Miraculous Norse
by sergeant peace
Summary: the Cat and the Ladybug are not the only gods in Paris, and Hawkmoth isn't the only enemy.
1. the Return of the Aesir

Deep in the mountains of Norway, several dark silhouettes made their way up a worn earthen path, heading towards a small cottage, at the head of these figures was a man in a cloak, "Ragnar!" he shouted, as he stopped in front of the cottage, his voice haughty and demanding, "Ragnar! Come out! Your time of hiding has come to an end!"

The door to the cottage slowly opened and a silver haired man walked out, dressed in a simple homespun tunic and pants, with a brown belt tied around his waist, his blue eyes glared at the cloaked figure, "Thrif," he growled.

"that is not my name." the cloaked figure said.

"I do not care which of the medallions you carry, you will always be Thrif to me." Ragnar said, looking past Thrif to the others behind him, "Frost Giants…" he muttered, "You turn on your own kind?"

"that's what happens when you become a god,"

"you may have power, but god you will never be," Ragnar snapped, "away with your delusions!"

"that, is where you are wrong, dear brother," Thrif said, pacing, he slowly put his hand into a hidden pocket and pulled out several chain necklaces, charms of varying shapes and sizes hanging from each one, 'I control the medallions, and once I take yours, no one will be able to stop me!"

"You…you killed, our brothers and sisters?" Ragnar croaked out, his eyes widening in disbelief.

"it was a necessary evil," he said, "the old ways are finished, Ragnar, you have lost."

"so long as I have breath in my lungs, and my family line continues on, you will never win!" he reached into his Tunic and grabbed hold of his own necklace, hiding the charm from sight as he started to chant in an ancient language, long forgotten.

"Kill him!" Thrif shouted, the frost giants materialized ice spears and threw them at Ragnar, just as they slammed into him a bright light shone, when it disappeared, Ragnar lay on the ground, his breathing raspy and ragged from the spears that riddled his body, his medallion was nowhere to be seen.

"where did you send it Ragnar!?" Thrif snarled, grabbing the dying man and hauling him up, "where!?"

'I sent it…to someone who will use it t-to stop you…" Ragnar rasped, spitting blood on Thrif's cloak, "a noble warrior of mine blood-line, of fiery red hair and pure of heart…he will defeat you…bro…ther…"

Thrif numbly let Ragnar slip from his hands as he shook with rage, "no…NO!" he turned and lashed out at the nearest giant, killing it instantly, the others cowered under his fierce aura.

"w-what do we do now?" one asked, bowing in front of Thrif,

Thrif took a few deep breaths, "find his heir," he growled, "Find him, and slaughter him, then bring me the medallion. NOW!"

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Nathanael woke up with a slight scream of panic, looking around the room wildly.

"Mr. Kurtzburg," the teacher said as the other children in the class laughed, "please pay attention!"

"S-sorry Miss…" he mumbled sheepishly, leaning back in his chair, _must've dozed off…_ he thought to himself as he ran a hand through his hair, _such a weird dream._

"hey Nath," Juleka whispered from in front of him, "what was that all about? One second you were asleep, the next- "

"just a bad dream," he whispered back to her.

"next time, don't be so vocal, "she said with a chuckle, "Scared the living shit out of me."

Nathanael just chuckled, "Sorry if I disturbed your nap." He said as the bell went off, he jumped up and went out the door, Juleka and Rose following behind him.

"so what were you dreaming about that scared you so much?" Rose asked, skipping alongside Juleka as she pulled her phone out.

"I can't really remember." He said, scrunching his eyebrows together, "I remember…some kind of monsters…but that's about it."

"well, whatever it was, hope you don't see it again." Juleka said,

"Yeah…It wasn't the best…" he said,

Juleka looked over to Alya and Marinette, smiling, "hey look, Marinette's stumbling over herself again."

Nathanael looked over, and gave a half-smile as she stutteringly tried to talk to Adrien.

"you good Nat?" Rose piped up, looking at her friend with slight concern.

"why wouldn't I be?" he asked in confusion.

"well…we know you had a crush on Marinette…and you used to get pretty sad when Adrien would talk to her."

he shrugged, 'I guess I don't feel the same way as I used to…I mean…ever since I got akumatized…"

Juleka and Rose shared a look, it was an unspoken rule around the school to not talk about the times they were akumatized, "guess things just changed huh…" Juleka said softly.

Nathanael nodded, "Marinette is wonderful…but she's not the girl for me."

"that's so sweet!" Rose exclaimed

Nathanael and Juleka rushed to hush the overly excited girl, "a little louder Rose, I don't think they heard you in Scotland!" Juleka whispered fiercely.

"sorry," Rose said sheepishly, looking at her phone as it chimed, "it's prince Ali!" she exclaimed happily, hugging her phone.

"what does the royal pain want?" Juleka asked good naturedly.

"he's in town again and wants to pick me up! I'll see you guys later, I gotta go!"

Rose took off once more, waving good-bye to her friends as she did.

Juleka rolled her eyes and gave a small chuckle, "glad to see those two are still getting along."

"at least someone got who they wanted, right Juleka?" Nathanael asked.

"you'll get your lovely lady soon enough," Juleka said Dryly, "now come on, we have a project to work on."

Nathanael walked into his room, tiredly dropping his book bag on his desk chair, he had spent the better part of three hours working alongside Juleka in the library, staring into books for hours on end hadn't helped his sleepiness; the only reason he hadn't fallen asleep was because he had Juleka hitting him with her book every time his head drooped.

"I can finally get some sleep," he muttered, starting to pull his shirt off, as he threw it into the dirty laundry, something on his desk caught his eye. He slowly walked over to the old wooden desk, where a small box was resting atop his used sketchpads, "what is this?" he mumbled as he opened the box, revealing a silver pendant on a chain, the pendant itself was shaped in the likeness of a hammer, attached to a bead that kept the hammer on its chain, the design reminded him of vines intertwining randomly throughout it.

He slowly reached out and touched it, the instant he did it felt like he was hit by lightning, his whole body tensed up and his eyes widened as visions and scenes played out in his mind, battles fought on far away battlefields. Somewhere far away he heard a scream, though he couldn't tell if it was his or someone else's as he fell to the ground and faded into darkness.

"wake up…"

"Nnngh…ow…" Nathanael groaned, holding his head.

"I said wake up boy!" a voice roared, making Nathanael jump in fright, he looked around his room, everything seemed the same, except now, he wasn't alone.

Sitting on his desk was a man in a brown tunic and tan pants, a cloak was held together by a simple silver leaf pendant, his silver beard and hair was wild and unkept, and his milky gray eyes were glaring at the downed boy, "didn't you hear me?" he growled, "I said get up, and be quick about it."

"w-who are you?" Nathanael asked in fright as he stood up.

"isn't it obvious?" he grumbled as he stood up and paced around the young man, "I'm Thor!"

"uh…I…isn't thor supposed to be like…young…muscular, hammer, warrior-like?" he asked.

"BAH!" Thor snapped, making Nathanael flinch in fright, "damn movies now a days make me look like a muscle-bounded idiot! Do they not realize that Norse Gods age? Albeit slower then you humans, but age non-the less!" he limped back to the bed and sat down, "yes boy, once I was young, muscular, in my prime! But since then, I've aged! Now I'm just a wizened old man!"

"and…no offence your…godliness…but why are you here?"

"The amulet." He said, pointing at Nathanael's chest, he looked down and gasped.

The necklace was now on him, but that wasn't what he was surprised about, no, what surprised him was that he was no longer a skinny, lanky kid, he now had-

"I have muscle!" Nathanael exclaimed, looking down at lean, cut muscles that had not been there a few minutes ago.

"yes you have muscle, now can we-hey!" Thor objected as Nathanael ran into the bathroom, "what the…" he whispered as he looked himself over; he poked his abs a couple of times, feeling the hard muscle, "okay, what's going on, who are you, why are you here…and how'd I get muscle?"

"I can answer all of your questions." He said, "as I said before, I am Thor, God of thunder, Protector of humanity, as to why I am here, well, it's because of the amulet that you now where around your neck." He stood and walked to the window, "you see, once, I was a powerful god, allowed to do as I pleased, go where I wanted, until the councils of ancients decided that we gods were too powerful to allow to do as we please, yet they also realized that the world sorely needed its protectors; so they found a middle ground."

He walked over to Nathanael and tapped the necklace, "many of us were bound to certain amulets, all of our power, knowledge, and strength, would be able to be wielded by humans in times of strife, that, is where you come in, a new threat has surfaced, one that hasn't been seen on this planet for over a millennium, the last wielder of Mjolnir has fallen, and you have been named his heir."

"so…I'm a superhero? Like Ladybug and Chat Noir?"

"I have no idea who those two are," he said, "but if they have powers, then most likely they have an amulet of some kind."

"they call it their miraculous'." Nathanael said as he scratched his chin, "never sure what it was…but now this makes a little more sense."

"Miraculous?" he asked, chuckling a little, "I believe that's what the oriental gods called theirs."

"so…what do I do?" Nathanael asked, "how am I supposed to know what this 'big threat' is?"

"oh that's easy, they'll be trying to kill you," Thor said, "Frost Giants are not ones for trying to simply trick you into giving up your amulet, no, they will try and kill you, and anyone who gets in their way."

Nathanael sighed, "great, now I have a target on my back, "he muttered, 'Brilliant, just brilliant."

"you'll be fine." Thor grunted, "you have power."

"I don't think muscles are power."

Thor shook his head, "if you want to activate your power, you must touch Mjolnir-the pendant around your neck- and say 'Mjolnir, to me' and you will gain more than just muscle."

"so I just put my hand on it and say-" he stopped as Thor grabbed his hand before he could touch the pendant.

"you might not want to do that in here." He said, "might destroy your house."

"r-right…lets go somewhere else and see what I can do."

"Let's go then," Thor said, standing up. and heading towards the door.

"I…I don't know how my mom will react to seeing a old man following me outside…"

he groaned, "I hate this part of the job," he muttered as he slowly started to shrink and grow more hair, his nose and mouth elongated and a pair of curved horns sprouted from his temples, soon he was floating in front of the confused Artist as a small, angry goat.

"y-you're a…a- "

"Goat, yes, can we go now?"

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Nathanael stood in the parking lot of an abandoned factory, shivering as he zipped up his jacket more, "okay…no one's around…" he looked over to thor, now back in his original form, sitting against a rusted out truck. "so…how do I…power up again?"

"call Mjolnir to you." he said, "and it will come." He stood, "when you call, I will be transported into the amulet, you remember everything I've said?"

"Yes," Nathanael said,

Thor nodded, "so do it."

Nathanael took a deep breath, "um…Mjolnir…come here?"

instantly lightning struck him, Thor smiled as he disappeared into the amulet, Nathanael felt his entire body tense as power flowed through him, for a split second he thought he caught a glimpse of an unknown face, but it went away as soon as the lightning did, he shook himself a little, then looked down.

"what the…" he started, noticing several differences, for one, he was no longer wearing his usual clothes, instead he wore a sleeveless chainmail shirt, with brown trousers underneath, a belt was tied around his waist, with a four foot long staff of iron strapped to it , attached to his shoulders was a wolfs pelt; and on his head rested a Gjermundbu helmet with an aventail, a pair of metal wings were pinned to the sides for decoration. Another thing that was surprising was that he now had a full beard, going half-way down his chest, eight different strands were braided with a single bead attached to each.

"eight braids for eight wielders." Nathanael recited, remembering what Thor had told him, and then looked down at his hand, where he clutched Mjolnir.

The ancient hammer was three feet long, with the head being easily a foot in width and half a foot in length, it's handle was oak wood, polished and smoothed by the many hands that had wielded it, the leather wrapped around the handle was old and worn, and felt as if it molded to his hand. He looked at the head once more, and found several runes inscribed on it, runes that he could read.

"I am Mjolnir," he muttered, "protector of Humanity, guardian of Asgard, and wielded by a chosen hero." He swung the hammer a couple of times and smiled.

"okay…okay…what did he say…hammer can only be picked up by me…can summon lightning…can…fly?" he shook his head, "That just doesn't make any sense." He muttered, absent mindedly spinning the hammer by It's leather loop, suddenly an idea came to mind, "didn't thor in the movies…" he swung it faster and faster until he suddenly let go of the handle and grabbed hold of the leather loop, letting it carry him into the sky, he laughed as he flew, looking around the town as he realized the he had enough force behind him to sustain flight for quite a while. He carefully adjusted the hammer so it pulled him to the Eiffel tower, he landed on the very top of the gigantic monument, looking out over the city, he looked at the hammer, then smiled as he thrust it up to the sky, instantly lightning flew down from the sky, slamming into the hammer, Nathanael laughed as he felt the power of the lightning course through him, he brought the hammer down and pointed it over the Parisian skyline, laughing out loud as it boomed and thundered and arced cross the sky.

"this is exhilarating," Nathanael said breathlessly, looking around Paris, hooking the hammer onto his belt, "lets see how my jumping is…" he squatted down and then jumped, going flying into the sky, he travelled a couple of blocks and landed on top of a building, letting out another joyful laugh he jumped once more, this time landing atop the Dupain-cheng bakery, he almost fell through the trapdoor and instead landed on the roof with a loud "oaf." He quickly sat up with fear in his eyes.

"d-did she hear that?" he asked himself and slowly peaked into her room, he gave a sigh of relief when he found that she wasn't home, "thank god." he mumbled, climbing back onto the roof, "okay…now what else can I do?"

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Nathanael looked around, "that sounded like…Alya…" he quickly jumped from building to building, looking around until he saw her in an alley, surrounded by three men, all of them looking at her with lecherous eyes.

"come on, come and play with the big boys."

"you get any closer to me and I swear to god I'll-" she stopped as the guy grabbed her by the throat and pushed her against the wall.

"you'll what? Girlie?"

Nathanael growled as he dropped into the alley, landing with a loud thud! Making the men look over at him, "Who the fuck are you!?" one asked.

Nathanael straightened up "let her go," he growled.

They started to laugh, "and who are you to-" one started, only for Nathanael to shoot forward and punch him in the throat, making him double over, holding his throat.

"I will not tell you again," Nathanael snarled, 'let. Her. Go."

the one pinning Alya to the wall let her go and turned to Nathanael, pulling a knife out, "come on then." He said.

Nathanael stared at him, then pulled out his hammer, "Here, hold this," he said, handing the hammer to the other guy, who instantly buckled under its weight as soon as Nathanael let go, as he fell, Nathanael shot his knee up, catching the guy in the chin and sending him smashing into the wall, he picked up his hammer once more, striding towards the last one.

"s-stay back man." He said in a high pitched voice, "don't come any-"

Nathanael struck him in the chest with the hammer, sending him flying out of the alley, "jack ass." He growled, looking at Alya, "are you-"

"Wow! That was incredible!" Alya shouted, making Nathanael flinch. "how were you able to do all that? Why couldn't that guy lift the hammer? How'd you crack the asphalt?"

"Crack the…" he looked back to where he landed, seeing a small crack in the ground, "oh…" he looked back at Alya, "um...hehe…"

'and who are you? I don't think I've ever seen you before." Alya said.

"I'm…I'm…" _say a cool name, like Raze, or Grifter, or Supernathan!_ "I'm Thor." Nathanael said, wincing slightly.

"Thor?" she asked in surprise, "like…god of thunder? Thor?"

"God of thunder, protector of humanity, guardian of Asgard…"

Alya shook her head, 'NO way…I'm talking to an actual God!"

"Well I better get going!" Nathanael said, picking up his hammer and swinging it quickly, 'Places to go, people to save, be safe, don't go down anymore alleys, goodnight!" and with that, Nathanael flew into the sky, arcing back to the abandoned factory, coming to a quick stop through the side of the wall of the factory, "ow…" he groaned as he picked himself up, "gotta work on the landings…" he stood and walked out of the factory, stretching, "okay…what-" he stopped as suddenly lightning struck and he was no longer carrying Mjolnir.

"you used the lightning attack didn't you?" The cranky goat asked Nathanael.

"um…maybe…"

"using that attack will severely drain my powers." He snapped, "and limits your time in the form."

"s-sorry."

He glared at him, "don't do it again," he muttered "so how'd it go?" he asked, landing on Nathanael's shoulder.

"it went…good…I need to work on landing…kinda keep breaking concrete and breaking through walls."

"mhmm…did anyone see you?" Thor asked.

"y-yes…one of my classmates Alya was in trouble, I had to help her."

"Good…did you tell her who you were?"

"um…yes and no…" Nathanael said, scratching his head, 'I…I sorta gave her…your name."

"you called yourself Thor?"

"y-yes?"

"good," he huffed, "no one can know your true identity, that's what led to the downfall of the last wielder."

"R-really?"

Thor nodded gravely, "now let us be off, I'm hungry and I'm sure you have things to do tomorrow."

Nathanael just nodded, starting to walk, "why are you a goat again."

"It's inconspicuous and means i don't have to walk, now shut up."


	2. Training and Fighting

"why do I have to do this again?"

Thor sighed, "I told you," Thor said, glaring at Nathanael from where he was doing pull-ups, "while the lightning attack does deplete my strength, if you are able to strengthen yourself through training, then you'll be able to wield Mjolnir longer after you use it."

Nathanael dropped from the pull-up bar, looking around the old, ratty gym that he had found for himself, the equipment was dusty and the concrete floor was cracked in several places, but it had been the cheapest gym he could find, and had everything they needed…

…at least that's what Thor told him.

"What are you standing around for!?" Thor bellowed, making Nathanael jump slightly, "grab a set of weights and curl!" he watched with beady eyes as Nathanael quickly ran to the dumbbells, picking up a set of fifty and starting to curl them.

"you know," Nathanael said, grunting slightly, "when you said you were a God, I thought you'd just…zap me and make me strong...and I wouldn't have to…you know, do this?"

"where's the fun in that?" Thor asked with a small grin, "true I gave you a jump start, but my job isn't to make things easier for you, if you want strength you must build upon it yourself, no one in life will hand you anything, no prayer will give you what you want. You must work towards it for yourself." He stood and walked over to Nathanael, "keep your back rigid and strong, don't slouch while working out."

He rolled his eyes, "doing the best I can," he muttered, "these are heavy you know?"

"for now," Thor said, patting his shoulder, "for now." he walked back to his seat, looking at Nathanael as he sat down, "after your done with that set we'll go on a run."

"we?" Nathanael asked.

"by we I mean you," Thor said, "I'll be the goat on your shoulder."

Nathanael just rolled his eyes, putting the dumbbells down and stretching his arms, "well then, you better change." He said.

Thor yawned and changed into his goat form, flying into Nathanael's pockets, "Get to running kid."

"you know you could just stay here, relax while I run."

"Nope, because if shit goes down and you need to transform, then I'm right there, now get to running, and make it snappy, I wanna watch letterman when we get home."

Nathanael sighed and jogged out the front door, grabbing his bag as he went, the sun had already started to sink low in the Parisian sky, and a cold breeze blew lazily through the streets, Nathanael shivered slightly but took off at a steady pace.

'Pick up the pace," Thor said gruffly from his pocket, "what is this a leisurely stroll through the park?"

"I wish," he muttered, quickening the pace.

"don't forget to keep on alert, if an attack happens you must be ready."

"I know, you've told me forty different times since we started this a week ago!" he snapped, then stopped running when he saw several people look at him with troubled glances, "uh…Bluetooth." He said with a nervous chuckle, most just nodded in understanding and continued on their way, while everyone continued to stare at him weirdly, Nathanael slowly started running again, "I hate you so much right now."

"serves you right for raising your voice at me."

Nathanael groaned and stopped at an intersection, waiting for the light to turn green, "why can't my life just be normal?" he muttered, "I could paint and draw like I used to on my weekends instead of working out with a demented goat?"

"demented goat?" a familiar voice asked, making Nathanael jump, he quickly turned around, and found himself looking down at Alix, who was looking at him in confusion. "what demented goat?"

"uh…that…is the nickname…I gave to my grandfather." Nathanael said carefully, "he's slightly senile."

Thor head-butted Nathanael in the leg, making him wince slightly which, thankfully, Alix didn't notice.

"your granddad is making you work out? Why?"

"eh something about being 'physically fit in case something happens'." Nathanael said, starting to run again when the light turned green, Alix followed easily on her skates, "He's a veteran so…"

"got it," Alix said, skating backwards, looking Nathanael over, "well, I gotta say, his trainings really paying off string bean, you're looking ripped, how long has he been in town?"

"Uh…like a year…" Nathanael said, slightly panicking.

'huh…surprised I never saw you running before.' She said, turning back around, "so where is he? Following you in his car or something?"

 _or in my pocket…_ "he stayed at the gym, something about his joints hurting or something…"

Alix nodded, "well then I guess I'll leave you to your run, see you tomorrow at school nat." and with that she went down another sidewalk, waving good-bye to him.

Nathanael waved back, then let out a breath of relief, "Oh dear god that was nerve wracking," he said.

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Nathanael walked into his house, wiping his face with a towel, "Mom?" he called, "you home?"

"I'm in the kitchen." Came the reply. Nathanael slowly strolled into kitchen, where his mother was cooking, her name was Ava Kurtzburg, she was a petite woman, with long, flaming red hair, which she usually kept up in a messy bun, she turned around and looked at her son with warm, tired eyes, "evening," she said, giving him a peck on the cheek, "how was your…run…workout…thing?"

"it was good," Nathanael said, sitting down at the table, "how was your shift?"

"good," she said, putting a plate in front of him, "there you go, Vegetarian casserole."

"thanks." He said with a smile, eagerly digging into the food,

"well you're hungry." His mother said in amusement as she sat down with her own plate.

""starving," he said, cleaning his plate off, and standing up to get more.

"well don't demolish all of it, I promised Reese that I'd get her some food tonight."

Nathanael stopped serving himself, "you're…going back in?" he asked.

She nodded, "Elouise called in sick, so I'll be going in for a little bit.

Nathanael nodded and only took a smaller portion for herself, "you know," he started quietly, "you wouldn't have to work double shifts if you let me get a job."

"No," she said pointedly, "you need to focus on school, and your drawing, getting a job would just interfere with that."

Nathanaael looked down, "but…we're barely making rent-"

"-you let me worry about rent." She said, standing up and putting her plate into the kitchen sink. "I'll see you in the morning," she said, ruffling his long hair and walking towards the door.

"bye mom…be safe.' He said.

"you too sweetie, don't do anything I wouldn't." she called, walking out the front door.

Nathanael sighed as he looked down at his food, not feeling very hungry anymore.

"your mother is a hard working woman," Thor said, flying out of his pocket and changing into his human form, sitting in the chair across from him.

"I just wish she would let me help her." He muttered, "this apartment isn't cheap, and I know she's running herself ragged."

'it's pride boy," he said gruffly, "she doesn't want to admit she needs help, especially to her son." He leaned back in his seat. "best you can do is help her subtly."

"I try, every time I try and pay a bill, or put a payment for the rent, my money ends up back in my room."

Thor laughed loudly, "she's a clever one then!" he exclaimed, "oh a woman after me own heart."

"please don't hit on my mother." Nathanael muttered, grimacing.

"relax boy, I don't mess with humans anymore." He said, chuckling as Nathanael stood up, his food gone.

"I'm going up to my room," he muttered.

"good for you," Thor said, standing and walking into the living room, turning on the tv, "don't be too loud, Oprah's on tonight.'

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"i can't believe you stayed up all night watching Oprah."

"she was talking about a good book." Thor muttered while lying lazily in Nathanael's thick hair, "I couldn't just leave in the middle of the discussion!"

Nathanael rolled his eyes, looking ahead as he felt the small goat on top of his head move around, "I get that you were up all night, and I get that you want to go to sleep...but why are you using my hair as a bed?"

"because it's long enough to hide me and it's softer than your pocket, so leave me alone, if something happens, wake me up."

Nathanael rolled his eyes again and walked into the college, picking uncomfortably at his shirt, "why does this feel so tight." He muttered, looking around the courtyard, as early as he was, the courtyard was almost empty, only a few students walked about, talking quietly amongst themselves.

"hey Nath," Juleka called, making him turn around to look at the dark dressed girl, "did you do the-whoa…" she muttered, looking him up and down.

"what was that Juleka?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Um…do you…did you…how'd you get so ripped!?" she asked, poking his abs, making Nath flinch slightly.

"stop Julek-stop!" he said again with a slight chuckle as she poked his stomach again, "you know I'm ticklish.'

"Sorry it's just…you're ripped." She said, poking his chest, making him jump again. "your shirt barely even fits you.'

"that explains why it's so tight…" he muttered, then looked at juleka, who was still staring, "Juleka, can you please stop staring, it's making me uncomfortable."

's-sorry, it's just…how'd you get so buff!?" she asked, making Nathanael blush.

"uh…well…my…grandfather…is in town, and he's been having me work out ever since he got here.'

"well…he's done a good job," she said, blushing slightly, 'Um…how long has he been here?"

'a year." Nathanael said.

"Strange…never see him when I'm around." She said thoughtfully.

"he…doesn't really come out except for food and work out." Nathanael said with a nervous laugh.

"Hmm…Well, like I was saying, did you do Madam Mendeleev's homework?"

Nathanael let out a sigh of relief at not getting caught, "yeah, do you need to copy it?"he asked, smiling at Juleka as she started to explain why she needed to copy it and that she'd pay him back by lending him her history notes, his smile disappeared when he heard a small explosion.

"what was that?" Juleka asked, looking around in apprehension, "an akuma attack?

"I don't know…" Nathanael muttered, watching the sky above the courtyard, a prickling feeling nagging at the back of his mind, "Juleka, get to the classroom…" he said as something flew over the school.

"Nath-"

"NOW!" Nathanael shouted, pushing her towards the stairs as the thing let loose a torrent of flames into the courtyard, sending the few students scrambling for cover, Nathanael rolled away from the flames, watching in almost fascination as a large dragon landed in the courtyard, it's scales were like ruby's, ivory spikes ran along it's spine, and it's amber eyes glared around the school.

'I AM DRAKON!" it roared, "AND I WILL SHOW YOU ALL THAT WHAT IS MYTH CAN BE REAL!"

"boy," Thor growled, peaking his head slightly out of his hair, "transform."

Nathanael's eyes darted over to Juleka, who was still at the stairs, motioning for him to run. "Can't, not in front of her.' He said. Taking off towards the stairs, the dragon's eyes darted towards him and it's head swung, spewing fire as it did.

"Nath watch out!" Juleka shouted as Nathanael jumped back as flames sprouted between himself and Juleka.

"Get outta here Juleka!" he shouted, "find a safe place!"

"what about you!" she screamed back.

"I'll find another way out! Just go!" he quickly took off running as another burst of fire torched the ground he had been standing on.

"change damn it!" Thor snapped.

Nath looked back once more, making sure Juleka was out of sight before diving into a janitors closet, "MJOLNIR TO ME!"

A crash of thunder, and a bolt of lightning were the only warning Drakon had before a hammer slammed into it's jaw, sending it flying back into the sky, leaving an iron clad Viking standing in the middle of the burning courtyard, his hair waving lazily in the wind, "that was too close…" Nathanael muttered, looking up to the sky as the dragon roared in outrage, Nathanael started spinning Mjolnir, launching into the sky with a hearty yell.

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Marinette listened to Alya retell her Thor story.

"-and then he dropped down and-"

"-beat those bastards to a pulp." Marinette recited in sync with her friend, 'I know Alya, you've been talking about the same thing for a week."

'I'm sorry, it's just…it's amazing that there's a new hero, and he saved me first!" she gushed.

Marinette smiled, "glad you're excited," she said, "but please be careful, for all we know this guy is an akuma.'

"no way, he didn't even try to ask about Ladybug or Chat Noir, every akuma tries to go for them within the span of a day, they don't hang around this long without trying something.

"just-"

"-be careful, I know girl, sheesh, not my first rodeo." Alya chuckled, flicking her friends nose.

Marinette smiled and continued walking, stopping short when she heard a loud roar, "what was that?" she asked.

Alya already had her camera out, "probably another Akuma! It's been over three weeks since the last one."

Marinette carefully scanned the sky, her hand going to her purse where Tikki was waiting, "what could-" she stopped as a dragon crashed into the street, "Holy shit!" she shouted, jumping back, Alya doing the same. Her phone still up.

"Is this really all you got?" Thor asked, landing a couple of yards away from the dragon, lazily spinning his hammer, "at least give me a challenge!"

the dragon slowly got back to it's feet, snarling at Thor, "I'll show you!" it growled, jumping at him, only for Thor to completely drop his hammer and punching the dragon in it's chin, sending it flying into an apartment building.

"too easy." Thor said with a grin.

"THOR!" Alya shouted, making the hero jump and turn around, hammer at the ready.

"Oh…you…" Thor said, slowly putting the hammer down, "look, this place isn't safe, you two need to-" he was cut off as Drakon charged back out and tackled him into the storefront.

"holy mother-" Alya yelped, starting to run after the two supernatural beings, "Marinette come on!" she shouted over her shoulder, only to realize she wasn't there, "Marinette!"

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Thor held the jaws of Drakon open, fighting to keep them from closing around his head, his hammer lying a few yards away, "this is not what I imagined my morning going." He growled attempting to push the dragon back, his muscles straining.

"Need a hand?" Ladybug asked, darting into the building and wrapping her Yoyo around the dragons bottom jaw, pulling it to the side and allowing Thor to summon his hammer and send the dragon back out into the street, 'thanks," Thor said.

"who are you?" Ladybug asked, twirling her yoyo.

Thor froze, "I'm…Thor…" he said, holding his hammer up, "god of the sky and thunder? Defender of Midgard? You know…a hero."

"how do I know you're not some Akuma Hawkmoth sent to trick us?"

"because I don't care about your miraculous at all." he said, "a dragon was tearing up my neighborhood so I thought i'd try and stop it.'

"how do I know you're not lying?"

"Is my word not enough?"

she raised an eyebrow, "No."

"well then, how about the fact that i'm about to save your life?" he asked, lazily swinging his hammer.

"what are you even talking about?" she asked.

Suddenly Thor shot forward and pushed her out of the way, taking the full brunt of Drakon's tackle.

Ladybug watched with wide eyes before swinging her yoyo once more, 'Hang on, i got you!" she shouted, throwing her weapon and lassoing it around the dragons snout, pulling it away from Thor, who was simply laughing.

"Need a paw m'lady?" Chat asked as he jumped in, slamming his staff into drakon's side and sending him tumbling over back out into the street.

"on time as always Chaton." she said with a good natured eye roll.

Thor got up, scanning over the Akuma, 'i don't see the akumatized object," he said,

Ladybug jumped over Drakon's tail, "There! on it's left foreleg!" she shouted, pointing towards a gold bracelet.

"i got it," Thor growled, holding his hammer forward, a fork of lightning shot down, slamming into the head of the hammer, Thor snarled as he brought it down and shattered the bracelet, sending the red dragon back into the wall.

"i'll purify the….what?" she asked in confusion as she watched the butterfly fly out, pure white.

Thor watched it in surprise, "Did i just…"

Chat crept over to Drakon as the dragon flailed, "milady you need to do the cleanse so he can change back!"

"r-right!"

Thor watched as Ladybug did the cleanse, watching as Drakon changed from a eight ton monster into a petite teenage girl in a red and black gothic corset dress.

"Was…was anyone else picturing someone…different?" Chat asked.

"Chat not right now." Ladybug said, kneeling down in front of the young girl as she sat up, brushing her raven hair out of her eyes.

"I was picturing someone different." Thor whispered to Chat, "sounded very masculine."

"Right?"

'both of you stop." Ladybug chastised.

"what happened?" she asked quietly.

"you were akumatized." Ladybug said, looking over the girls bracelet, it was gold with ruby's set in it. the girl quickly snatched it out of Ladybug's hand, holding it close to her chest as she shook. "are you alright?"

the girl looked at ladybug and slowly shook her head.

"well what's wrong? maybe we can help."

"i…i got tired of people calling me a liar." she mumbled, looking at the bracelet once more, "no one in my class believed me when i told them i got this bracelet from a dragon."

"you mean Bruce Lee?" Chat asked, earning a slap to the back of the head from Thor, a slap that sent Chat face first into the ground, "okay, ow…"

"not Bruce Lee," she said, her voice rising slightly as she glared at Chat, "it was a real dragon, with red scales and ivory spikes…his name was Ignis…" she looked down, "but….no one…no one believed me…" she said, her voice quieting down to almost a whisper, "they kept saying that i was just trying to get attention…little Alice, wanting to be special…but…i really did get the bracelet from him…"

Thor walked forward and put a hand on her shoulder, "then that's what happened." he said, making her look up at him, "it doesn't matter what people say or believe, all that matters is what you believe."

she looked up at him in awe, "who…are you?"

"Thor." he said, giving her a smile,

"he's right," ladybug piped up, "if that's what you say happened, then who is anyone else to call you a liar?"

"yeah." Chat agreed, slowly standing up, "I mean, a real dragon doesn't sound so far fetched when you have heroes powered by magic."

Alice smiled, 'thank you…" she whispered to them, "all of you."

Thor just gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze before turning around and spinning the hammer, "well, i got places to be, things to do, you all have as normal a day as you can."

"Wait-" Ladybug started to say, only to let out a groan of frustration as Thor flew into the sky, she turned back to Chat. "we need to find him again, talk to him."

"how about we do that after we take care of Alice here?"

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Nathanael detransformed behind the school, leaning against the wall as he breathed heavily.

"good job today," Thor rumbled, the grumpy goat was sitting on his shoulder, "you actually had some time to spare."

"i can purify Akuma's?" he asked Thor.

"apparently." Thor said, "the lightning is pure light energy, it can drive away any darkness, which means any dark energy will be purged."

"well that's…helpful…why am i so tired?" he asked, slowly sinking to the ground.

"you've never actually fought something like that before, of course you're tired. I say go home and take a nap, you deserve it."

"i can't just leave school…besides, I left Juleka behind during that fight…i should go make sure she's alright."

"well fine, but as soon as we find out i say we head home," he said gruffly, settling into his hair as he slowly stood up, "doesn't do the body good to go through a fight like that, and then keep going, at least not the first fight."

"i got it Thor, just let me make sure Juleka's fine." he slowly entered the school where most of the students were walking out of the building.

"Nath!" Rose shouted, running over, "where have you been!? Juleka is worried sick!"

"i woke up in the back alley," he said, rubbing his head, "Guess i got knocked out during the akuma attack."

"well come on! Juleka's been looking all over for you!" she grabbed Nathanael by the hand and practically dragged him up the stairs and into the almost empty classroom, where Juleka was frantically pacing. "Juleka! i found him!" Rose exclaimed, letting go of Nathanael and pushing him towards her, Juleka looked at Nathanael with relief.

"Thank god you're alright!" she exclaimed, wrapping her slender arms around him, Nathanael blinked in surprise, but returned the hug.

"why are you so surprised i'm alright?" he asked, "it was just another akuma."

"this time was different." Rose piped up, "several students were sent to the hospital with third degree burns, a few others had passed out from smoke inhalation, and since you didn't reappear after the akuma had been dealt with…"

Nathanael closed his eyes and looked down at Juleka, who was crying just a little, "i'm alright Jules," he said softly, 'completely fine."

"i thought you…when we got separated…" she mumbled into his chest.

"i know…i'm sorry." he looked around, "Rose, where is everyone?"

"most everyone has gone home, school was canceled since the akuma took so long." Rose said softly.

he nodded, "come on Juleka, lets get you home."


	3. The Cost of Fighting

four a few weeks after Drakon's attack, Nathanael felt…off.

the normally quiet, tired artist now felt alive and full of energy, bursting to do something-anything-whether it was running, his workout, or trying to keep up with Rose during her evening hospital visits with Prince Ali. he even took care of several Akuma's before Chat Noir and Ladybug could even get suited up.

"it's because of the fights." Thor told him as he did pull ups in the rundown gym, looking at a silver coin that he slowly flipped in between his withered fingers, "the adrenalin, the thrill of battle, it's an addiction boy."

"so you're saying i want more fights?" Nathanael asked as he let go of the bar, stretching his back out.

Thor nodded, "it's my fault, partly," he grumbled, "pairing with this amulet usually makes your appetite for battle increase, but i won't accept all the blame, it seems you yourself have a taste for battle."

Nathanael nodded, "it's…exhilarating," he whispered,"to feel that power, to go into a fight and win…"

Thor grinned, "better then any drug you'll ever do kid." he said, his ears pricking up when he hears the door open, he looks over and sees Alix walk in, her eyes on the phone in her hand, Thor quickly morphed into his goat form and hid in Nathanael's hair as the pink haired girl looked up.

"so this is where you work out." she said, looking the shirtless teen over. her eyes dancing over his tensed muscles, slick with sweat.

"yeah." Nathanael said, finding it strange that he wasn't stumbling over his words like he had the last time she had found him working out, "my little temple of zen and peace."

she looked around, "this dump is your temple?" she asked with a snort, taking her jacket off and putting it on a hook, "i'd hate to see what your house looks like."

"hey, this place has it's own little charm." he said, slowly walking over to his shirt and putting it on.

"i'm sure it does tough guy." she said with an eye roll, a playful smirk spreading across her lips, "so what? i show up and your done working out?"

"can't over stay after i've done my routine," Nathanael said, "no matter what the pretty girl says."

Alix's smile faltered slightly, a blush blooming faintly in her cheeks.

Nathanael picked up his bag and started walking out, "see ya at school Alix." he said, smirking at her as he walked out the door.

"someone's getting smooth with the ladies." Thor said in amusement.

"i have no idea what you're talking about." Nathanael said as he walked down the street, pulling his phone out.

"mhmm…" Thor hummed, "what're you looking at?"

"Ladyblog" he said, "they got some good video of the fight…"

"watching your highlight reel?" he mused.

"yeah, seeing how i did…" he muttered, watching as he slammed his hammer into a colorful Akuma's head, sending him flying back into a building, "i actually look like a badass."

"that's the power of the Amulet, making you a force to be reckoned with."

Nathanael smiled, hitting the next video and raising an eyebrow when it was one of Alya herself.

" _good evening ladybug!"_ she said in excitement, _I know a lot of you are wondering who this new player is! well i'm here to tell you that he that he is Thor! God of Thunder! from the looks of it he hasn't collabed with Ladybug, but i'm very optimistic about a team up between him and our protectors soon!"_ she stopped talking as her window opened up and Ladybug came jumping in, " _No way…Ladybug is standing in my ROOM!"_

" _Bonjour Paris,"_ Ladybug said with a cheerful smile and a wave, _"i actually came for your help Mademoiselle Cesaire."_

" _Of course! anything! what do you need?"_

" _we want to send a message to Thor, see if he'll meet us on top of the Eiffel Tower tonight after midnight, we need to talk with him and your Blog is the Best way to do it."_

" _You hear that Paris?"_ Alya gushed " _looks like Paris' heroes would like to establish a rendezvous with Thor! so spread the word and lets see if we can't get him there! Bug out!"_

Nathanael turned his phone off and looked up, the sky was slowly turning a blood red, "you think we should go?"

"of course," Thor grunted, "never shrug off allies boy, especially strong ones."

he nodded, "well, i still have to go see Juleka, she wanted to compare notes before tomorrow's test…but right after i'll head to the tower."

"good, and try not to flirt to much with this girl, i'd hate to see you develop a habit."

"i wasn't flirting!"

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Juleka sat at her desk, attempting to focus on her math homework, looking at the clock every now and then, "he should be here…" She mumbled, quickly looking at her reflection in her mirror.

"you look Nervous."

Nathanael's voice made her jump slightly, turning around quickly to look at Nathanael, who looked slightly amused.

"nervous?" she asked, "w-why would i be nervous?"

he shrugged, "I don't know, you just seem like it." he said, walking over and sitting on her bed and opening his bag.

"mom let you in?" she asked.

"yeah," he pulled out his notes, "So, are we gonna compare notes? or…"

"uh…yeah." she mumbled, pulling her notes out while trying to calm her flustered nerves, _why am i acting like this?_ she thought to herself as she pulled her notes out, "so…the test is going to be over Ancient Rome…what do you think she'll put on the test?"

"all honesty i think it's going to be the turning points in Roman history, like it going from a monarchy to a republic, then a republic to a Empire."

Juleka nodded, putting stars by the bullet points, "what about the Emperors? definitely the ones before Christianity took root."

"yeah, like that Nero guy, he seems like a big enough prick to put him in a test."

Juleka laughed, making nathanael smile.

"I think you're right." she said with a smile, "probably have Caesar covered too, he was the whole reason Rome became an Empire."

"you're right," he agreed, "and the triumvirates, since they definitely moved along the process."

she nodded her head, occasionally stealing glances at him through the curtain of her hair, her eyes lingering slightly on his muscles, which were showing prominently against the tight white t-shirt he wore, "did you hear the way she went on and on about the Gladiators?"

"yeah, i get the feeling she'll definitely be putting something about them in there…" he bit the cap of his pen, his gaze unashamedly grazing over her, making her shift slightly as she pushed her bangs out of her face.

"is there something wrong?" she asked.

Nathanael blinked a couple of times, "N-nothing, why?" he asked, letting his gaze fall back to his paper.

"you seemed to…space out for a second…" she mumbled, knowing full well he had been looking at her.

"just…got a lot on my mind…" he looked towards her, smiling a little as she nervously pushed her bangs back once more, he felt a sudden, primal urge come over him, something he couldn't quite describe, but it was strong enough that it scared him a little.

"Nath…" her voice cut through his thoughts, making him shake his head a little.

"are you alright?" she asked worriedly, standing up from her door and walking up to him, he felt his arms tense as she put a slender hand on his forehead, "you're a little warm…"

"I'm fine." Nathanael murmured, his eyes looking at her lips, then trailing down to her simple tank-top, which did little to calm his already racing mind.

"are you sure/" She asked worriedly.

"I'm sure," he said, slowly reaching up and pulling her hand away from his forehead, he took a deep breath, "um…so is there…anything else we need to mark down?"he asked, letting go of her hand.

Juleka watched him for a little while, then sat backdown, "um…i think she's gonna cover the fall of Rome." she said, looking back at her notes, "there were several different reasons for why it fell, lead pipes, non native soldiers entering the legion, disrupting it's cohesion, political corruption."

he nodded, circling the bullet points, "i think that about covers all the important things." he said, slowly putting up his notes, "i guess…i'll go then."

"wait," she said as he stood up, "before you go, can you help me with the Math homework?"

Nathanael swallowed, "yeah, sure."

 **Forty minutes later**

Nathanael walked out of Juleka's apartment, saying a small goodbye to Juleka's mother before stepping out onto the street and walking down the alley.

"Thor…." Nathanael started.

"what?"the grumpy goat grouched, poking his head out of his hair, "i'm trying to sleep!"

"did you watch anything that happened up there?" he asked, slowly stopping by a trashcan.

"are you talking about the part where the girl was shooting you glances, or where you almost threw her on the bed and-"

"stop please." Nathanael begged, leaning against the wall, "I…i don't know why i was…i mean…i know i haven't been as nervous around Alix lately…but that…i wanted…" he looked at Thor as the tiny god flew out of his hair, "i wanted to…i wanted to take her…i wanted to push her onto the bed and…"

"don't need to paint a picture boy." Thor said gruffly, "and i'm sorry, but it goes back to what we discussed earlier."

"you mean the whole thing about me wanting to fight?" he asked, "how does that transfer to this?"

"you felt an adrenalin rush when those thoughts went through your mind yes?" he asked, "The rush, the challenge, it's all there, only in a different form." he snorted, "hell, in my opinion, Love and War are the same kind of Drugs, only going by different names."

Nathanael looked down and sighed, running a hand through his hair, "so what? i'm going to be like this every time i'm around her?"

"probably not." Thor said, settling on his shoulder, "it's been what? a week since the last Akuma attack? you've been gone from the fight too long boy, and now you're mind's trying to find…an alternate source."

Nathanael shook his head, "this is getting complicated." he muttered, "i used to be an artist…a quiet artist living a quiet life in the back of the class…"

'you're chosen boy, so get over it." Thor muttered, "Now lets go meet these other heroes so we can form a good alliance."

Nathanael nodded, "Mjolnir! to me!"

a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder later and Nathanael felt the familiar weight of Mjolnir appear in his hand as he was covered in his armor, he grinned and let out a laugh before shooting into the air, making straight for the Eiffel towers he sped past, he hooked his hand on one of the metal beams and came to an abrupt stop. he hung above the platform for a few seconds before dropping down, looking over Paris.

"must be early," he said, looking around.

"Right on time actually." Chat said, sauntering out from around the corner, "at least we are, i'm sure m'lady will be along soon."

Thor nodded, "then we'll wait," he said, watching as Chat sat down on the rail, "so…have you…adopted any…behaviors?"

"what do you mean?" chat asked.

"like…since i got the Amulet, i've been…more keen to fight."

"really?" Chat asked, his ears perked up.

he nodded, "I look forward to the fights, i crave them…" he looked at Chat, "So, anything different on your end?"

'well, i see in the dark better now, and I find myself growling when i'm mad-"

"and he likes to eat tuna." Ladybug said, making both men turn their heads towards her as she landed on the walkway, "like, a lot."

"Tuna's good.' he defended.

"He also purrs when he's happy." Ladybug said with a giggle, making Thor look at the Black cat in surprise.

"you-"

"No!" Chat said quickly, turning red, "i-i don't purr! i-" he stopped as Ladybug started scratching his head, making him close his eyes and emit a low, rumbling purr, before jerking away from her, "m'lady…you've betrayed me."

Thor laughed, "So, why did we call together this meeting?" he asked.

"we'd like to start collaborating with you." ladybug said, "you've helped us a lot on the last few Akuma's, dealing with them entirely by yourself; but Hawkmoth won't take that lying down, he'll start making them stronger, harder to beat, which means-"

"-which means, pretty soon i might need your help to keep fighting." he finished for her.

"yep," chat said, "and we'd be happy to help you…if you know, you let us help you."

Thor looked at the two, "I'm not a hero,' he said to Ladybug, "i'm a warrior, i fight, it's what i do; you two are the ones who are actively attempting to stop hawkmoth, which means you're in charge here, you want me to join you two, take orders, then i will; but don't expect me to patrol the city or join in on meetings every time they pop up, i have classes to pass."

Ladybug smiled, "we understand, but if we absolutely need you-"

'then i'll be there," he said, then chuckled, "i got a crazy old goat that'll kick my ass into gear if i drag it." he stretched, "so if this is done, i got some sleep to catch up on.' he swung the hammer and took off, leaving chat and Ladybug alone on top of the tower.

"you sure he's good?" Chat asked.

'he's given us no reason to think otherwise." Ladybug said.

"i don't know…before you showed up, he was talking about how his 'amulet' was making him want to fight; and if he's really that blood thirsty-"

"he'll be fine chat." Ladybug said, "he's not killing anyone, he's fighting.

"I know…but what if he takes it too far."

"then we'll be there to stop him."

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Nathanael slowly walked towards the school, shivering slightly in the early morning cold.

"sooo tired." he groaned.

"that meeting didn't run that long." Thor muttered, "you should've gotten home and gone to sleep."

"i still had several assignments to get done."

"still should've slept."

Nathanael sighed, walking up the steps to the school, "i'm too on edge," he muttered, "what with these…feelings, and no Akuma's…"

"still need to sleep." Thor grumbled, "force yourself to relax."

"i can sleep during my passing period." he pushed the doors open and froze slightly, clenching his fist as he watched a guy harass Juleka.

'c'mon! just humor me babe," the guy said, standing uncomfortably close to Juleka, who as trying to-not to subtly-push him away, "one date, i'll show you a good time."

"thanks, but no thanks." she said, trying to walk away.

"don't walk away from me-" the guy said warningly, grabbing her arm, instantly Nathanael moved forward, pushing the guy back.

"did you're parents not teach you manners?" Nathanael growled, standing between him and Juleka, "or common sense for that matter."

"hey man, this don't concern you." he said, trying to remain calm and charming.

"it does when you're manhandling my friends, now why don't you take a hint and back off."

the guy glared at him, then at Juleka, "Whatever," he muttered. turning around and walking away.

"thanks Nath." Juleka mumbled as the redhead turned around, relaxing slightly, "He wouldn't go away."

"no problem," he said, "hate guy's like that." he looked at Juleka, "so…you're early."

"Rose said to be here early…but i guess she's running late.' Juleka mumbled, looking around.

"you know rose" he said, "always a little loopy."

Juleka chuckled, "yeah," she looked at Nathanael, "so why are you here so early? other then saving me from jerks?"

he shrugged, "didn't sleep, so when the time came i just….came to school"

"you didn't sleep!?" she asked, shocked.

he shook his head. "couldn't seem to." he said.

she grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the classroom, "that won't do." she said, "you need to get at least a little bit of sleep."

"Juleka-" he started as she pushed the door open and made him sit down on the bench, "Juleka i'm just not tired." he defended.

"you're eyes are blood shot." she said, "and you're heads already dropping."

"no it's not." he argued, shaking his head slightly.

Juleka sat down next to him, "you need to sleep Nath." she said, slowly guiding him down until he was lying on the bench, his head in her lap, "we have an hour and a half until class starts, you can sleep until then."

"Juleka-" he started, but stopped when she started running her hands through his hair, humming softly.

"sleep, Nath." she said softly, as his eyes drooped, "I'll wake you up when class starts.

"Jules…" he tried to feebly argue, only for her to ssh him again.

"Sleep…"

Nathanael let out a sigh and closed his eyes, "only for a couple of minutes…"he mumbled.

"only for a couple of minutes," she promised, smiling as the redhead drifted off into sleep. still running her hands soothingly through his hair as she hummed.

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Gabriel Agreste didn't know what to do.

his last few Akuma's had been defeated quickly and-laughably-easily thanks to the new Miraculous holder in town. and he knew creating more powerful Akuma would severely drain not only his miraculous, but his life force.

"master, perhaps now would be a good time to retreat." Nooroo said, "Thor isn't known as 'protector of humanity' because he sits back during fights like this.

"i can't stop now that i've come so far Nooroo." Gabriel mumbled, "i just need to look at this from another angle."

"you could always try and find a wielder for the Peacock miraculous." Nooroo said.

"No!" Gabriel thundered, slamming his fist against the desk, sending Nooroo shrinking back, Gabriel took a deep breath, looking at his servant/friend, "I'm sorry," he muttered, "but…no one….'

"I understand Master." Nooroo said dutifully, flying back to him, "but you do need help."

a knock on the door sent Nooroo flying into Gabriel's breast pocket.

"Enter." Gabriel said, relaxing when Natalie walked in, "what is it?" he asked.

"you have someone here to see you sir." Natalie said, "a Monsieur…Jones?"

Gabriel raised his eyebrow, "send him in."

"Of course sir." Natalie said, walking back out.

Gabri'l stood up and fixed his suit as the man walked in, he was tall, with long, slicked back hair, a rough beard trimmed delicately, his green eyes looked around the room with intrigue as the ivory cane in his left hand clacked against the marble floor, "well, i must say, you really do strike an intimidating figure." he said, his voice like smooth silk.

"good evening, "Gabriel said, "i'm sorry to say, Monsieur Jones, but i can't say i have ever made your acquaintance."

"I'd be surprised if you had, in all honesty." he said as the door shut behind him.

"what business can i help you with today, Monsieur Jones?" Gabriel asked, sitting back down.

"well for one, my name isn't Monsieur Jones." he said, walking towards the window and looking out, "most, tend to call me Loki."

Gabriel raised an eyebrow, "I see." he muttered, feeling Nooroo shift in his pocket, "a weird name."

"as weird as Hawkmoth?" he asked, looking back at him.

Gabriel's eyes narrowed, "I suppose." he said.

Loki turned around, smiling at Gabriel, "i understand that you're having some problems with a certain…Thunder-headed brute."

"i have no idea what you're talking about."

"Monsieur Agreste please, i'm trying to make friends." Loki said with a grin, "and that can't happen without a little bit of honesty." he turned around, walking towards his desk, "now, are you having a problem with a thunder-headed brute?"

Gabriel took a breath and sighed, "you're right." he muttered, looking at him, "but how could you help me?"

he grinned and reached into his pocket, pulling out a silver snake bracelet out an emerald stud set into it's eye, "i do hate parting with my power," he said, "but i have others, and this one will definitely put a thorn in his side." he put the bracelet on the desk. "whoever you choose to carry this, just make sure they won't be turning against us."

"Us?" Gabriel asked, looking at the bracelet.

"yes, i do believe both of us will benefit from an…alliance." he said, turning around and twirling his cane as he walked, "do let me know if you need help, i'd loathe to give up anymore amulets…but i do have several Jotun's who are aching to get into a fight."


	4. enchantress

Lila walked out of her math class, head held high as she walked into the courtyard, ignoring the hushed whispers and glares she got from the other students, since her lies had been revealed, her popularity had plummeted, no one dared believe the girl who was ousted by ladybug. it left her with a very lonely life.

 _if only i could get rid of Ladybug._ she thought spitefully, _she's the real bad guy,_

"Mademoiselle Rossi." someone said as she stepped out onto the front steps of the college. she looked up and found herself looking at Gabriel Agreste, sitting in a stretch limousine.

"um…yes Monsieur Agreste?" she asked nervously, walking up to the limousine.

"it has come to my attention that you need some…help, in your aspirations." he said, holding a jewelry box out to her.

her eyes narrowed slightly, "Is this a joke?" she asked.

Gabriel looked at her, raising an eyebrow, "I hardly joke, Mademoiselle Rossi." he said.

she slowly reached out and took the box, still looking at Gabriel with distrusting eyes, until she spotted a small, purple creature poke it's head out, "you're…You're-" she started.

"discretion is key, Mademoiselle," he said as Nooroo disappeared back into his pocket, "i know of your hatred towards a certain hero, and the way to her defeat, is through that." he looked ahead, "but first, we have to take care of a certain hammer wielding pest."

Lila looked at him and smirked, "If it leads to her defeat, then i'm all in." she said, putting the box in her pocket.

he smirked, "i look forward to working with you, Mademoiselle Rossi." he said as the limousine drove off, leaving Lila alone with a smile on her face.

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Nathanael sat in the park, watching as Juleka and Rose helped Marinette and Alya put together a small party together for Adrien.

"So…is there a reason we're doing his birthday here in the park instead of his house?" Nathanael asked, leaning forward in his spot.

"because his dad doesn't want him having a birthday party, which means we'll have to throw him one here." Marinette said, putting a large, well made cake onto the table they had just set up,

"yo! we got the pizza!" Kim shouted, walking up with Ivan and Max, each holding several boxes of pizza.

"that's awesome!" Alya said, "put them on that table over there, Nino!" she turned to look at her boyfriend, who was busily setting up his DJ equipment. "You almost ready babe?"

"yeah, just gotta choose the right opening track babe." he said, picking up a Vinyl record and putting it on the turn table, "alright, it's all ready, i'm gonna go get Adrien."

"make sure he doesn't know!" Alya called, turning to Nathanael, "you gonna help?" she asked.

"I'd like to," he said, standing up, "but i got work out to go to."

"Do you really have to?" Alix asked as she walked up, "you go to that dingy little gym every day, even on the weekends, can't you miss one day?"

"sorry," Nathanael said, "but i gotta keep working out."

"For what?" Kim asked haughtily, "You'll never get guns like me!" he started flexing, making Max roll his eyes.

"actually, studying the muscular structure of yourself and Nathanael, I have determined that Nathanael has forty-five percent more muscle then you." Max said matter of factly, "which means that you will most likely never have muscles like him."

Kim looked at Max, then at Nathanael, "oh no way, i don't believe that one bit!" he exclaimed, "there's no way he's stronger then me!"

"you challenging me Kim?" Nathanael asked, a glint entering his eye.

'maybe i am string bean." Kim said, cracking his knuckles, "I can out swim, out run, and out fight anyone! including an over hyped up artist."

"is he saying what i think he's saying?" Marinette asked Alya.

"i'm challenging you to a boxing match!" Kim declared, making almost everyone laugh, except Nathanael, who was now smiling with almost unconcealed joy.

"Nathanael doesn't know how to fight you idiot." Alix said.

"yeah, he's an artist." Rose piped up, "I don't think i've ever seen Nathanael even raise his voice to someone."

"I'll do it."

everyone looked at Nathanael in surprise.

"what?" Kim asked in shock.

"you sound scared Kim, what? did you think i'd say no?"

"n-no! just surprised you're this eager to fight me, i'm the second best boxer in the club!"

"then i guess you have nothing to worry about." Nathanael said with a smirk, "how about lets do this tomorrow, after school, loser has to buy the whole class lunch, including Madam Bustier."

"deal." Kim said, his shock being replaced by eagerness, "and that lunch is going to taste so good when you buy it for me."

"sure," Nathanael said, picking up his bag and starting to walk away.

"hold on there Tomato head," Alya said, grabbing his arm, "you can't just challenge Kim to a boxing match and then disappear, you're staying for the party, then you can go train."

Nathanael hesitated, "I don't know…"

"Come on Nath," Juleka said, "surely you can stay for a little bit."

Nathanael smiled, "yeah…your'e right, i can."

ALya smirked at the two, "well, well, well," she said, "i ask, nothing, Juleka asked and suddenly you have no problem, i see how it is Tomato head."

"what?" Nathanael asked in confusion.

"oh don't even try, i understand, i'd fall for the pretty ravenette too." ALya said.

"Alya, quit being dramatic," Marinette chastised, looking at Nathanael oddly, "i hope you know what you're doing." she said to him, "Kim may talk a big game, but he really is one of the best boxers in the school."

"I'm sure i'll be fine." nathanael said with a small smile, "so don't worry about it too much Mari."

"i'm just saying, you don't seem like a fighter."

"i'm a man of many talents." Nathanael said, sitting back down, Juleka sitting next to him.

"well, good luck, we'll definitely be rooting for you," Alya said, "it's about time someone knocked Kim on his ass."

"Alya!" Marinette admonished, giggling quietly.

"it's true!" she said as the two walked off.

Nathanael just chuckled softly, leaning back against the tree.

"she's right you know." Juleka said softly, "you're not a fighter."

Nathanael nodded slightly, "i'm not," he said, "but i'm not exactly helpless, i'm sure i can win."

Juleka slowly intertwined her hand with his, making him tense slightly, before giving her hand a reassuring squeeze, "Just be careful," she said softly, "last thing i need to do is worry about you getting brain damage."

he smiled, "I'll be fine Jules," he said, turning his head towards her, feeling that now familiar feeling course through him, his free hand reached up and brushed her bangs out of her face before gently cupping her chin, Juleka blushed, leaning in slightly.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

the shouting chorus made both teens jump, looking over to see their friends crowding around Adrien, simultaneously wishing him a happy birthday.

"Wow, you guy's did all this for me?" Adrien asked with a smile.

"Marinette planned it all." Alya said, pushing her friend forward, who was blushing like crazy.

"I-i just got everyone together." she said shyly, "they did the rest, i just-" she stopped as Adrien hugged her.

"thank you Marinette." he said softly.

"you're welcome," She said breathlessly.

"what are we waiting for!? lets get this party started!" Nino shouted, starting up the music while everyone cheered and went to get food.

Nathanael smiled, then looked back at Juleka, who was now looking away from him, blushing deeply. "Come on," he said, standing up and helping her to her feet. "lets dance."

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Lila looked at the green snake floating in front of her in wonder, behind her sat a man with salt and pepper hair, his green eyes twinkling with mischief, he put the hood of his cloak up and crossed his arm, "you have the highest affinity for magic then any of my other wielders." he said in praise, his voice like silk, "and so long as you continue to practice daily, you'll be able to use the magic not only when you transform, but also in your civilian form."

"i never knew this world was even open to me…that it even existed."

he just smiled, "so, how do you plan on introducing yourself to the people of paris?"

she smiled as she turned around, her hand going to the bracelet on her arm, "with a bang."

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Nathanael laughed alongside Juleka as they spun around in the grass, dancing to the music Nino was playing, their hands intertwined, and foreheads touching softly.

"Nath…" Juleka said softly, out of breath as the song came to an end and the two stopped just short of the refreshment table, hands still intertwined.

"you know," he started, "when you said i'd find my lovely lady, i didn't think you meant yourself."

Juleka blushed and looked away, "i don't know what you mean," she said.

he gently cupped her chin, turning her head back towards her, "I think you do." he said softly, leaning in, Juleka started leaning in to, her eyes slowly closing.

"lets light the birthday cake!" Alya exclaimed, making the two jump, Juleka slowly let go of Nathanael's hand, walking over to the small crowd that was forming around Adrien and his birthday cake, Nathanael felt annoyance bubble up in him.

"Second time i've been interrupted."he muttered quietly to himself as they all started singing, he stepped close to Juleka as they sang, gently putting his arms around her, Juleka blushed and leaned back into him, making him smile.

Adrien blew his candles out, making everyone cheer.

a few seconds later an explosion rocked the area, sending everyone to the ground, Nathanael wrapped his arms around Juleka protectively as they both crashed into the tree, "what the hell was that!?" he exclaimed, slowly getting to his feet, his eyes darting around, looking for the source.

another explosion rocked the area, Adrien and Nino threw themselves over Marinette And Alya as a tree shattered, sending splinters and shards of wood everywhere, Kim and Ivan were both covering Mylene, Alix, Rose and Max.

"The tower!" Nino exclaimed, pointing towards the Eiffel tower, which was now surrounded in fire and smoke as it groaned, buckling under it's weight.

"Everyone get out of here!" Nathanael shouted as the tower started to fall towards them, "GO!"

soon everyone was on their feet, running as hard as they could as metal and wood fell around them.

"Nathanael!" Juleka screamed as he tripped on a log. tumbling down a small slope.

"Juleka! keep running!" Kim shouted, grabbing her arm and dragging her.

"but Nathanael-"

"he'll be fine!" Kim said, picking up the struggling girl and running towards the others.

Nathanael waited until everyone was out of sight before getting back to his feet. "Mjolnir! to me!" he shouted.

Lightning crashed as the remnants of the tower continued to fall on the park, Thor jumped into the sky and, with a swing of his mighty hammer, sent the debris flying off to less populated sections of the park, he landed back on the ground looking around, "another akuma?" he asked himself. the familiar rush of adrenalin coursing through him.

"hello Thor." a silky voice said, making him turn around quickly, batting a throwing knife away a split second before it sank into his stomach.

"what the hell." He growled as he watched a woman walk out of the rubble, a silver circlet sitting on her flowing brown hair, Green eyes looking over him coolly as she sashayed towards him. her clothing was intricate and fine, a green silk dress with gold trimmings and belt which rode low on her hips, she was stunning, beautiful, but those facts only seemed to put Thor on edge, her features gave off a altered, unnatural beauty, "who are you?" he growled.

'I assumed you were in that little party.' She said, walking around him, "didn't think you'd actually show yourself though, what would have happened if someone had seen you transform?"

he gripped his hammer, his anger rising as she continued to walk around him.

"true, i didn't see who you were, and as of right now they're all so scattered that i wouldn't find out very easy, but it is nice to know where to look."

"who are you." he asked again.

"the better question, is who are you?" she asked, "Thor, the mighty Guardian of Asgard, protector of humanity, God of Thunder, these titles aren't truly yours, who are you under that beard and helmet? Kim? Ivan? little Nathanael? maybe even Adrien with hair dye."

"who i am doesn't concern you witch." he growled.

"oh but it does, it's my job to know, how will i go about doing it though? will i fight you, throwing little tantrums in downtown Paris? or will i simply go after your class, pick them off one by one-" she dodged to the side as Thor threw his hammer.

"you stay away from them!" he snarled.

"So emotional." she chuckled, 'why don't you just RELAX!" with a flick of her finger she sent Thor flying back, he tumbled for a few yards before getting his feet back under him, summoning the hammer back to him and charging, swinging his arm with enough force to tumble over a couple of trees as she glided around his attacks, laughing in delight at his frustration.

"what's the matter?" she asked, jumping over his last attack and landing on the head of the hammer, delicately balancing on one foot. "can't seem to rise to the occasion?"

"ENOUGH!" Thor snapped, summoning lightning, she jumped back, a smile breaking out across her lips as he hurled the lightning at her, she held her hand up, absorbing the power into her own, slender frame.

"Tingly." she said, watching the power arc across her fingers, "is this how you usually make women feel?" she held her hand out and sent the power back at him, knocking him off his feet and into the twisted rubble of the tower.

"Damn it." Thor groaned, slowly sitting up as she walked towards him.

"you're not as strong as you thought, Thor." she said as he finally stood back up. "too little practice, too much eagerness."

"shut up!" Thor snarled. throwing his hammer at her, his eyes widening in surprise as it passed harmlessly through her. "wha-" he groaned as a blade plunged into his side, he fell to his knee's as she pulled the blade out of his side. "Illusionist bitch." he muttered, glaring at her, he charged at her and swung his fist, she quickly hit his arm down and slashed the blade across his chest and back, making him wince as he fell to his knee's, the blade was easily cutting through his armor, leaving long gashes.

"anything to get the job done," She said, walking around him once more, "my job is to incapacitate you, of course i was aiming for your spine, but i'm still new, so, practice makes perfect.'

"who are you." thor growled again, he could feel the wound trying to close, but it would take time, and he was losing blood.

she smiled, "Still curious?" she purred, "Well, if you're Thor, then i guess that makes me Loki…but…i prefer the name Enchantress." she stopped a couple of paces behind him, "good bye, Thor." she said, raising the blade once more, only for it to be knocked out of her hand by a familiar staff.

"Mind if i cut in?" Chat asked, kicking her away from Thor.

"mangy alley cat!" she snapped, sending a torrent of fire at him from the palm of her hand, Chat dodged, landing on top of a steel beam.

"you alright big guy?" Chat asked, looking at the blood soaked Viking in concern.

"i'll be fine," Thor muttered as he stood back up, summoning his hammer back and advancing on her, he slammed the hammer on the ground, sending a shockwave that sent her flying back into a tree, as soon as she hit the ground Ladybug's yoyo flew out, binding her to the tree.

"you alright?" Ladybug asked as she landed, keeping the line taut. Thor put a hand to his side, wincing slightly when he realized the wound was still open.

"Never better" he grunted, slowly walking forward.

"do you know where the Akumatized object is?" Chat asked, jumping down to join his teammate.

" she's not akumatized." thor said, "she's another amulet wielder."

"another Miraculous?" Ladybug asked, glaring at Enchantress, "well, we caught her, now we can-" she stopped as the tree Enchantress was bound to wilted and turned to dust, quick as a flash she was in the air. "Scatter!" Ladybug shouted as Enchantress sent bursts of energy down at them.

"three on one isn't exactly fair!" Enchantress said. sending a pulse of magic into the ground, it churned and moved as wood and dirt mixed with steel, soon, eight six foot tall Golems surrounded the three heroes, beady green eyes narrowed at them, "I'll leave you with this parting gift!" she said. disappearing in a puff of green smoke.

"isn't she so sweet." Chat said, getting into a fighting stance as Thor charged, slamming his hammer into one of their bodies, sending it back in several directions, it's green eyes fading as it went. instantly Thor fell to his knee's, gritting his teeth in pain as his wounds burned.

"watch out!" Chat shouted, jumping over Thor and slamming his baton into a Golem that attempted to take advantage of Thor's weakness. he hit the monstrosity with several combo hits and sent it tumbling back as the others advanced, Ladybug shot in, saving Chat from getting flattened as one of the larger ones brought it's fists down where Chat had been.

"get them close together!" Thor snarled, forcing himself into a standing position.

"why? so we can get flattened quicker?"

"JUST DO IT!"

Chat looked at Ladybug, who simply nodded and threw her yoyo, hooking three and throwing them to the center of the clearing their fight had created, Chat jumped towards another four, using his strength and attacks to drive them to the center.

Thor looked down at the hammer, "Odin please let me have the strength," he muttered, holding the hammer aloft, lightning once again came down and struck the mighty weapon. he held it there for several seconds, feeling his power slowly drain as Ladybug and Chat Noir finally got the Golems in one tight group, struggling to move against Ladybug's yoyo, "MOVE!"

the two heroes jumped away an instant before Thor's hurled lightning slammed into the Golems, the pure energy tearing the puppets apart, littering the park with fragments of earth and metal, thor smiled weakly as he fell to his knee's, leaning against his hammer, he put his hand to his wounds once more, and found them seared shut, "there's one problem taken care of." he mumbled as he started falling forward.

"Got ya big guy." Chat said, catching the brute before he hit the ground, "nice finisher."

"will you be alright?" Ladybug asked, walking up to him and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"give me a moment," he said wearily, slowly getting his feet under himself.

Ladybug slowly turned around, "chat, help him get out of here, i'll perform the cleanse."

"on it m'lady." Chat said, helping Thor slowly stagger away from the clearing and into a thicket of trees as Ladybug said the magic words.

"MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!"

"glad you two came when you did…" Thor muttered as Chat helped him stagger through the woods as the trees righted themselves and the tower returned to it's former glory.

"we were in the area," Chat said, "saw the tower come down, and also saw you doing your 'protector of humanity thing' then we saw the destruction you were causing in that fight, so we jumped in."

Thor nodded mutely, wincing as lightning suddenly struck, making Chat jump back in fright.

"What the-" he started as the lightning disappeared, leaving a worn out Nathanael wobbling in the spot Thor was just standing in, a half-dead Goat lying in his hair.

"N-Nathanael?" Chat asked in shock.

"surprise." he said with a dry chuckle, his knee's buckling underneath him.

"Got ya," Chat said, snapping out of his stupor to catch Nathanael.

"you're a damn fool boy…" Thor muttered as he rose his head up slightly. "you could have died today."

"but i didn't…" Nathanael mumbled.

"Nathanael Kurtzburg is Thor…" Chat mused, carefully throwing one of his arms over his shoulders, half carrying/half dragging the artist towards the edge of the woods.

"yeah…" he muttered, "surprising isn't it?"

"Not as much as it would've been a year ago." Chat said with a small chuckle, "you've really bulked up."

"thanks to me." Thor piped up.

"really? how come your Kwami gave you a body like Schwarzenegger while mine just gives me a headache?"

"it's a gift." Thor growled, "are you going to take him to a hospital?"

"he doesn't seem too injured," Chat said, as he looked towards the edge of the woods, where dozens of flashing lights indicated the police and EMS had arrived on scene, "but i can't leave him on his own, and i have friends who are probably looking for both me and him so…"

"so what?" Nathanael asked, his eyes drooping slightly.

"Plagg, Claws in."

a bright flash of green made Nathanael look away, when he looked back he found himself looking at the slightly disheveled Adrien Agreste, a black cat floating around his head.

"Adrien Agreste…" Nathanael muttered,

"yeah." Adrien said awkwardly.

"Chat Noir…is Adrien Agreste…"

"yep."

Nathanael took a deep breath and started laughing, wincing as a slight pain went through his chest. "goody-two shoes pretty boy Adrien is the fun-loving flirty Chat Noir." he wheezed, 'do you know how hilarious that is?"

"I…guess it's kinda funny."

"Kid, it's completely bizarre." Plagg said, zipping around the two, then stopped, glaring at Thor, "Thor." he said stiffly.

"Plagg.' Thor greeted tiredly, "can we not do any arguing right now? kind of tired."

Plagg narrowed his eyes, before flying back to Adrien and shooting into his pocket.

"glad you two are friends." Nathanael said as Adrien started walking once more.

"yeah, it's so hard to find good friends now a days.' Adrien said.

"so…what are we going to do about this?" Nathanael said as Thor slowly slid into Nathanael's front pocket

"well, i'm going to take you to the Ambulance, and then i'm going to go back the party and get pizza."

"bring me back a slice would ya? i could eat a horse."

Adrien laughed as they finally broke through the tree line, both boys wincing slightly as the police shined their lights on them.

"we got two more over here!" Officer roger shouted, making his way towards them as paramedics rushed towards Nathanael, gently taking him from Adrien and settling him on a gurney.

"found him in the woods." Adrien said tiredly.

"and what were you doing in the woods Monsieur Agreste?" Officer Roger asked.

"I got separated from my friends." he lied, "i couldn't find my way out after the tower collapsed…"

officer Roger nodded, "i'll escort you to your friends, they've been worried about you."

"thanks Officer Raincomprix,' he said, looking at Nathanael, "are you going to be alright?"

"I'll be fine." Nathanael mumbled, resting his head back, "can you tell Juleka i'm alright? i'm sure she's worried sick.'

"Got ya buddy." Adrien said, patting his shoulder before starting to walk away. rubbing his head as he went.

 _Nathanael is Thor…and he know's i'm Chat…whats gonna happen now?_

"Adrien?"

Adrien jumped, stirred out of his thoughts by Nino's voice, the DJ was looking Adrien over in surprise before rushing forward and throwing his arms around his best friend.

"Nino? what-" Adrien started.

"Dude we thought you were dead!" nino said, letting him go and punching him in the arm.

"why would you think that?"

Nino hesitated, "Alix and Max…they both got caught in the debris," he said.

"what? but…but Thor-"

"if he hadn't of done what he had, then we would all be hurt but…Alix and Max had ran off in a different direction…Alix got away with a broken leg and a concussion but Max…a beam almost crushed him…we're not sure if he's gonna make it."

"L-Ladybug's cleanse! it should've-"

"that's what Alya keeps saying." Nino mumbled, scratching his head, "but this was different…i…i don't think it was an Akuma attack…so…"

Adrien felt numb as he slowly looked around their group of friends, Juleka was comforting a crying Rose while Ivan was holding Mylene, whispering comforting words to the trembling girl while ALya was tapping away savagely on her phone, tears threatening to fall. Kim was sitting against a police cruiser, hugging his knee's to his chest as he cried, a cold feeling of dread filled him as he realized something.

"Where's Marinette?" he asked. his entire body shaking.

"we…we don't know…she…we got separated." Nino said helplessly.

Adrien staggered back like he got struck in the chest. "but…no….i saw her running alongside Alya, i saw her!"

"she veered off when a beam crashed between us." Alya said, trying hard not to break down as she continued to type away, "I've been messaging her…but…she hasn't…she won't…"

Adrien turned around, "Officer Raincomprix!" he called, running back over to the officer.

"what is it Monsieur Agreste?" Roger asked, turning around.

"Marinette's still out there!"

"What?"

"Marinette dupain-cheng is still out there!" he shouted, "we have to go find her!"

"Calm down son, we have squads out there right now looking for anyone who may have been caught up in the collapse, just relax with you're friends until we can find her."

"but-"

"no buts son." Roger said, patting his shoulder, "i promise we'll find her."

Adrien looked towards the park, his hand twitching slightly.

"Adrien don't," Nino whispered.

"i can't leave her out there." Adrien muttered.

"Adrien-" Nino started.

"I'll just run in and look around, i'm sure i can find her if i try."

"Adrien."

"quit trying to talk me out of it Nino! i can't leave her-"

"Adrien?"

the soft voice made him stiffen and turn around, and there Marinette stood, looking ragged and worse for wear, her hair was pulled out of it's usual pig tails and she was staring at Adrien with wide, tired eyes. "W-whats wrong? who's still out there?" she asked.

"Marinette…" Adrien breathed out in relief, "We thought…i thought…"

"Marinette!" Alya shouted, running over and wrapping her friend up in a hug, tears falling freely, "where the hell were you!"

" when that beam fell i had to take another way…i came out on the east side…"

"why didn't you answer your phone?" ALya whispered.

my phone broke…"

"man Mari, you know how to give us a scare." Nino said, a relieved grin on his face, "you almost made Adrien jump the police line just to go find you."

"he-he did?" she asked, looking at Adrien in surprise.

"i…uh…was worried." he said, rubbing the back of his head.

Marinette smiled slightly, then looked towards the forest, "what was that?" she asked.

"don't know," ALya said, wiping her tears away, "but it wasn't an akuma…"

"whatever it is, it's been taken care of." Nino commented, "otherwise they'd still be fighting."

they all nodded mutely.

"are we still missing anyone else?" Kim asked mutely, not looking up from his spot.

"Nathanael." Juleka mumbled

Adriens eyes widened, "oh i forgot to tell you! i found him on my way back!" he said, "the EMT's are taking care of him right now!"

Juleka visibly relaxed as he said this, "thank god." she whispered, "how bad was he?"

"Not too bad, concussed…"

"i'm going to go check on him," Juleka said, turning to Rose, "will you be alright?"

Rose nodded slightly, "be careful," she said.

Juleka nodded and quickly moved towards the EMT's while Adrien looked at Marinette, Alya was still hugging her tightly, and she herself was leaning against Alya, her eyes closed, but upon feeling Adrien look at her, they opened, soft blue eyes looking into emerald green, she gave him a soft smile before closing her eyes once more, sending a familiar jolt through his chest.

"bro," Nino said, shaking him out of his thoughts, "lets get the girls home."

what about you're equipment? it's still out there."

"i'll get it tomorrow, right now, i'm more worried about Alya and Marinette getting home safe."

Adrien nodded slightly, "alright, lets get them home."

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Juleka had never been more scared in her life, when the tower came down and they couldn't find five of their friends, when they found Alix and Max injured and unconscious, they had feared the worse for their other friends. but she had forced herself to stay calm, to be strong For Rose, who hadn't been able to cope with the sheer terror of almost losing friends.

and as Juleka walked up to where they had Nathanael laid out on the gurney, speaking in hushed whispers a couple steps away from him, she felt all that fear ready to crash down on top of her, "Nathanael…"She whispered, looking at the redheaded boy currently lying on the gurney, his face smudged with dirt, his chest rising and falling shallowly.

"Juleka?" he mumbled, slowly opening his eyes and looking at her, "Hey…are you alright?"

and just like that, Juleka felt something give, she started to cry as she quickly closed the remaining distance between herself and Nathanael and threw her arms around him.

"J-Juleka, what's wrong?" Nathanael asked worriedly, wincing as he sat up to properly put his arms around her.

"I…i was so scared…" she whispered, "w-when you fell…and then we couldn't find you…"

"I'm alright Jules," he mumbled, "just…sore…" he sighed, "I tend to scare you more then i should huh?"

she nodded mutely, tears still trailing down her cheeks and staining his shirt.

Nathanael closed his eyes, holding her close, "I'm sorry for scaring you Jules…"

"I'm sorry…"


	5. first strike

Three weeks.

three weeks since the Eiffel tower fell.

three weeks since Enchantress had made herself known.

three weeks since they almost lost Alix and Max.

Three weeks, and Nathanael was getting antsy.

not only had there been no further attack from Enchantress, but there also hadn't been a single akuma attack, leaving all of Paris tense and anxious; waiting for the next blow.

but it never came, leaving the warriors life full of nothing but preparation, school, and visiting his injured classmates. Alix was under bed rest, her leg almost completely immobilized by the cast the doctors encased it in. he attempted to visit her every day alongside Juleka, the two bringing homework for her and Kim, who attempted to spend all of his time with both Alix and Max.

Max had been in a comatose state since the night the tower fell, his ribs, left arm, and both legs were covered in multiple fractures and breaks, along with a hairline fracture in his skull, many of the doctors were worried the small boy wouldn't make it. but small signs kept them from completely giving up hope.

"he's responding when his friends come by." the nurse said with a tired smile, "he's close to regaining consciousness; i can feel it."

"if i'm not here when he does, please contact me." Kim had pleaded, leaving his contact information before zooming off to go see Alix. anyone watching could see it was running him ragged, but Kim wasn't one to do anything by halves. so Nathanael, Juleka, and so many others attempted to do what they could to help the teen, but they could only do so much. Nathanael himself was doing all he could to keep his head on straight as he attempted to navigate his school work alongside his daily visits to Alix as well as work out. two people in his life kept him from giving into his frustrations and fatigue. the first was Juleka, who was beside him every step of his day, her mere presence a calming influence on the warrior. the other was Adrien Agreste…

…who was currently doing all he could to try and keep up with Nathanael's pace.

"Come on Agreste," Nathanael said with a smirk as he started on his fourth set of pull ups. "you're not even trying."

"trying…very…hard." Adrien panted, struggling to complete his second set as Nathanael let go of the bar. "how…how can….how can you do this….every day?"

"i got used to it." Nathanael said truthfully as Adrien crashed to the ground, "first week's killer."

Adrien let out a sigh as he sat up, picking at his sweat soaked shirt. "so make it past the first week and it gets better?" Adrien asked hopefully.

"oh no, it gets worse, so much worse." Nathanael said with a slight chuckle.

Adrien groaned and flopped back down. "why did i agree to this?" he moaned.

"because you want glorious guns like this." Nathanael said, flexing his arms.

"you mean those little twenty-two's?" Adrien asked in amusement.

"oh no, these are fifties." Nathanael gloated, "now what you have, those are twenty-two's."

"hey! i at least have forty-fives!" he objected.

"i'll go as high as nine millimeters." he said in amusement, "If you can match me set for set."

"you know, twenty-two's aren't that bad." Adrien said reasonably as Nathanael laughed. "so where's our local gods?"

"probably off talking." Nathanael muttered, "they seem to be doing that a lot lately."

"are you sure it's talking and not yelling?" Adrien asked, "because those two end up getting into a verbal fight every single time they get together."

Nathanael shrugged, "so does Kim and Alix, and they're still great friends."

"a little more now," Adrien commented, "i don't think Kim leaves her side at all."

"he does," Nathanael said, "to go see Max…Kim's had it rough…"

"you two still gonna do the fight?" Adrien asked.

Nathanael shook his head, "with how he's running himself ragged, i doubt we'll be sparring anytime soon." he walked over to the rack, picking up two fifty pound dumbells and curling them, "lets go, grab those thirties."

"come on man!" Adrien groaned, grabbing the dumbbells, "can't we relax a little while longer?"

"not a chance." Nathanael said with a grin.

"I bet ladybug doesn't have to deal with this." he grunted, picking up the thirties and curling them.

"probably not." he agreed, "but that just means we'll be more prepared."

"Do you think…no never mind."

"what?" Nathanael asked putting down his dumbbells, he walked a short ways to his bag and pulled out his water bottle and took a chug.

"do you think we should tell Ladybug who we are?" Adrien asked, 'i mean…we know who we are, wouldn't it be fair if we let her know?"

"would probably make things easier." Nathanael said, "at least it would if you didn't have a crush on her."

"i love her, what's wrong with that?" Chat asked.

"oh i don't know, maybe because you barely know her? you don't really know who she is-"

"I've been fighting alongside her for over two years now," Adrien argued, "and we might know each other from school."

Nathanael shook his head, "It's still too risky, you heard what Thor and Plagg said, the more people who know, the more danger we're in.'

Adrien sighed, "but it'd be a lot easier if we knew who we all were so we could coordinate better."

"coordinate what?"

"coordinate a more effective search." he said, "you know, to find hawkmoth."

"but it's risky,' Nathanael argued, "we don't know what Enchantress's powers are, if she's able to read minds-"

"-then we're already done for." Adrien interrupted, "if she can read minds then she's read ours and already knows who we are."

Nathanael hesitated, "you're right…" he conceded, "but still, if they're telling us not to tell, then we don't tell." he walked over to the dumbbells and picked them up again.

"boy," Thor said, slowly fazing into the room from above, Plagg following him, both were in their kwami forms. "are you two almost done with your work out?"

"i'm finishing my last rep." Nathanael said, looking over at Adrien, "he hasn't gotten his last two yet."

"I really hate you." Adrien muttered, glaring at Nathanael as the redhead laughed.

"you said you wanted to get stronger." Thor growled.

"i didn't know that involved me almost dying every day." Adrien grumbled as he started curling once more.

Plagg laughed, "see? this is what you get for wanting to be more active!" he said as he fluttered around his chosen's head.

"i thought we both agreed he needed training?" Thor asked with a raised eyebrow.

"we did, but i still reserve all rights to rib the kid whenever i get the chance."

"I hate this…" Adrien groaned as he dropped the dumbbells and practically collapsed onto the bench.

"walk it off." Nathanael said, tossing him the water bottle, which he easily caught.

""either of you hear anything while we were gone?" Thor asked, settling into Nathanaels bag.

"other than Adriens complaining? no. still quiet out there."

"it's getting worrisome, no Akuma's, no further attacks from Enchantress…" Thor shook his head, "None of this is good."

"but there's nothing we can do about that." Plagg said, 'unless you want to just start canvassing all of Paris."

"me and Ladybug basically do that every night on patrol." Adrien said, "and we still haven't found anything."

Thor growled, "I hate this waiting," he muttered.

"same." Nathanael agreed, Adrien nodding his head along with them.

"but it's the only thing we can do." Plagg said, landing on Adrien's head.

before the conversation could go any further, Nathanael's phone went off, "and now we have thirty minutes to get to school."

"we running?" Adrien asked as the two stood and grabbed their bags.

"of course." Nathanael said with a grin, "last one there has to buy Dinner."

"you're on!"

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"why do you think Adrien's been hanging out with Nathanael so much?"

Marinette looked up from her sketching, her eyebrows furrowing slightly, the two had been enjoying a quiet morning on the front steps of the college, waiting for class to start, "what do you mean?"

"I mean what i mean!" Alya exclaimed, making Marinette roll her eyes.

"that clears things up nicely Alya, thanks."

Alya groaned, "come on! ever since the tower fell those two have been inseparable! always working out in the mornings, hanging out after school! challenging and quipping each other like they've been lifelong friends!"

"a near death experience will do that Alya." Marinette said solemnly, making Alya sober slightly, "I mean…they were both caught in the rubble, Adrien was the one who pulled Nathanael out of there, don't you think they'd…i don't know, bond over that?"

"maybe…but it's still weird and…Nino, what are you doing?" Alya asked, barely noticing her boyfriend standing on the sidewalk, staring intently down the street.

"Watching." he said, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"For…what?" Marinette asked slowly.

"you'll see." he said, slowly raising his phone, "3…2…1…"

Suddenly, around the corner, came two speeding streak, one red one yellow.

"Aaaaand it's sunshine child followed by tomato head!" Nino shouted, narrating the race like an announcer at the horse track, "they're neck and neck coming out of the bend and into the final stretch, sunshine child is trying to keep his lead, BUT IT LOOKS LIKE TOMATO HEAD HAS CAUGHT HIS SECOND WIND! HE'S ON SUNSHINE CHILD LIKE FLIES ON SHIT! THEY'RE NECK AND NECK! ARMS PUMPING LEGS BLAZING! A TRAIL OF SMOKE FOLLOWING THEIR VERY FOOTSTEPS!"

Alya laughed as she watched the two males run, "GO TOMATO HEAD!" Alya shouted as other students started to congregate on the stairs, cheering on the race.

"GO SUNSHINE CHILD!" Marinette cheered.

"AND HERE THEY COME APPROACHING THE FINISH LINE! IT'S GONNA BE CLOSE! WHO'S IT GONNA BE SUNSHINE CHILD OR TOMATO HEAD!" Nino snapped a picture as they past the nearest lamp post, slowing down as Nino checked the picture. both Nathanael and Adrien doubled over, gasping for breath.

"who won!?" Alya demanded, running over with Marinette and a slew of others following.

"It's Sunshine Child!" Nino exclaimed

everyone cheered as Adrien stood up straight, raising his arms in victory, "I won!" he gasped.

"damn it," Nathanael muttered, sitting on the steps, "oh man, I thought i had you until we rounded that corner."

"you haven't caught me in a week," Adrien huffed out as Nino ran over and raised his arm up in victory.

"bro, that was great." Nino chuckled, "better than yesterday's race."

"what do you mean yesterday's race?" Alya asked, walking up to them, "Great run by the way Adrien."

"Thanks." Adrien wheezed out, "and to answer your question," he cleared his throat, "me and Nathanael have a daily run every day before school, we've been doing it for the past two weeks, Nino usually tells us who wins."

Nathanael stood up, "i'm gonna get you next time." he huffed out.

"no you won't." Adrien said smugly, wiping sweat off his brow, "Speed is one of the greatest assets i have."

"still can't keep up with me on pull ups." Nathanael grumbled.

"and you can't even get close to me on our races." Adrien said triumphantly as Marinette walked up to him, holding out a water bottle.

"g-g-g-good r-run a-adrien." she said shyly. making Adrien chuckle as he took the bottle.

'Thanks Marinette." he said with a smile, taking a drink and handing the bottle back.

""So, what do you guy's race for?" Alya asked,

Nathanael and Adrien looked at each other, then shrugged, "Bragging rights?" Nathanael said.

"good work out." Adrien reasoned.

"fun to watch." Nino added in, earning several nods of agreement from others.

"Oh! And loser has to buy winner Food, which you owe me a pizza, large, meat lovers."

"Up yours."

"No you."

Alya sighed and shook her head, "Men." she said in exasperation.

"Men." Marinette sighed dreamily, before blushing deeply and hiding behind Alya.

"wow," Nino said, then looked at the two runners, "alright, you guy's, there's about twenty minutes until class, and you two need to hit the showers."

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Lila had watched the race from the top of the steps, "i'm starting to wonder if Thor is one of those two." she muttered, watching as Nathanael and Adrien quickly ran inside, intent on getting a quick shower before class.

"they do seem to be the only ones training for something." Loki whispered into her ear, currently in the form of a small snake in her hair, "They were also one of the last ones to stumble out of the park after the tower fell."

"Kim also took his time coming out," Lila mused, "as well as Ivan."

"so that's four suspects for Thor." Loki muttered, "but there's several others we need to watch out for, Thrif also wants us to find out the identities of the cat and the bug."

"at least the suspects for Ladybug are fewer in number." Lila said, "as of right now it's either Alya or Marinette. they're the only two who turned up after our fight with thor, but the question remains, how are we going to find out for sure?"

"we could always start blowing things up again, that got a quick response."

"no, this needs to be much more precise then simply flushing them out." lila grumbled as she shouldered her bag and started walking into the school.

"you are smart," Loki chuckled, "My last chosen simply rushed into things half-cocked, but you, you give things some thought before rushing in half-cocked."

Lila smiled, "maybe we should contact hawkmoth," she said, "Have him akumatize someone and use that as a means to watch our suspects."

"good plan, however, i do believe Hawkmoths Akuma's alone aren't going to pose a big enough threat to get all three of them to attack, Thor himself usually defeats them all on his lonesome…perhaps it's time for the Jotuns to lend a hand…"

"Meanwhile, i'll give Hawkmoth some easy prey."

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Nathanael walked into class, roughly toweling his hair out as he went.

"Couldn't you do the dry cycle in the boys locker room?" Nino asked, walking in behind him with Adrien at his side.

"i did," Nathanael said, pulling his towel off his head, "my hairs too long to dry that quickly."

"maybe you should get a haircut."

"No," Nathanael said.

"dude, your hair is way too long." Nino said.

"I like it just the way it is, "Juleka said, walking up to the trio.

"Hey Jules." Nathanael greeted, putting an arm around her and kissing her forehead, making her blush slightly.

"Morning," she said with a small smile.

"Okay, break it up you two," nino said, patting Nathanael's shoulder as he squeezed by the couple to get to his desk.

"Sorry bro, but no can do." nathanael said, keeping his arms firmly around Juleka.

"Yeah, don't interrupt them." Adrien said, sitting down next to Nino, "i heard Dames weaken legs, so next time me and him spar i'll probably come out on top."

"In your dreams pretty boy." Nathanael said as he and Juleka walked up the steps to their desk.

"Seriously, what is up with you two?" Alya asked Adrien, "I thought your bromance with Nino was bad, but this?"

"Hey," Adrien started, "I only have one Bromance, and that's with Nino, Right bro?"

"Of course bro." Nino said, leaning back, "love ya bro, no homo."

"Nino, it's 2018, pro homo."

"You right bro, pro homo."

"You guys are homo's." Alya said with an eye roll and a laugh as Marinette sat down, "so we're all going over this afternoon to see Alix, you guys in?"

"Totally," Nino said, "we going with Kim?"

"No." Marinette piped up, "he said he was going on his own during his last period."

"He's skipping Boxing practice?" Adrien asked.

"Y-yeah." Marinette coughed, attempting to keep her composure, "he-he said Alix and Max are more important then boxing."

"Never thought i'd see the day." Nino said with a shake of his head, "Then again i never thought i'd see the Eiffel tower falling on me so…"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE QUITTING!"

The outraged voice flowed in from just outside the room, making everyone inside jump, "what was that?" Marinette asked.

A loud crash made everyone jump up, Nathanael was the first to start moving, bursting out the door and looking about, what he found sent a jolt of anger through him.

Kim was being pushed up against the brick wall by a large upperclassmen who had the look of fury in his onyx eyes, his stubbly hair slightly slick with sweat, "you can't quit the team this close to competition Kim," he snapped, 'you're one of our heavyweights!"

"Then you're going to have to find someone else." Kim growled back, "Alix needs me and Max could wake up-" a hard hit to the chin sent Kim's head smashing into the wall, disorienting him.

"Your little friend ain't gonna wake up." the upperclassman snarled, "get it through your thick skull!"

"Hey!" Nathanael shouted, striding towards them with his fists clenched, behind him most everyone from their class was poking their heads out, Nino, Adrien and Ivan stepping out to back him up, "who the fuck do you think you are?"

"I'm this idiots Boxing captain." he said, turning towards Nathanael with a ugly sneer, walking towards the artist, making Kim slide down the wall, "who do you think YOU are?"

"I'm the guy that's gonna knock all your teeth out if you don't let go of my friend." nathanael snarled, clenching his fists.

"Nathanael." Adrien started, stopping his advance with a single arm as Ivan and Nino slipped past the upperclassmen to pick kim up and drag/carry him to the infirmary, "he isn't worth it."

Nathanael glared at him for a bit longer, "you do shit like that again i'm fucking you up." he said with icy calmness, "you even think about doing shit like that again, and i'll rip your goddamn lungs out." and with that Nathanael turned around, intent to go down a different set of stairs to check on Kim.

"Do what i want you piece of shit, especially with that little goth whore of yours."

"Damn it." Adrien muttered as Nathanael stopped walking, his lip twitching as he turned around.

"What? Think you're gonna scare-" he started, only to stop when Nathanael slammed his fist dead middle in the face, sending him flying back; Nathanael did not stop, he continued to to beat the guy back, his fists slamming into his head, stomach, chest, anywhere they could land, "think you're tough shit huh?" Nathanael growled, grabbing the guy by the shirt and slamming him into the wall, "why don't we see how you do when someone fuckin' hits back!"

The upperclassman ducked under his wide swing and slammed his fist into his abs, twirling out of the way every time Nathanael tried to hit him again, "Come on mother fucker!" he shouted,landing several good hits on the side of Nathanael's head, with the last strike Nathanael caught his arm and locked it in place with his left and bent him over, slamming his knee into his chin before hitting him a couple of times with his right fist and kicking him back.

"Nathanael! Stop!" Adrien shouted, running forward and wrapping his arms around the berserking warrior and pulling him back.

"Get off me!" Nathanael snapped, trying to struggle out of Adrien's grip, but the boy was holding on for dear life, nothing he could say or do could get through to him, it wasn't until he felt a slender hand push him back and a clear, slightly scared voice said "nath, you need to stop." with those words the haze slowly disappeared until he was looking into the concerned eyes of Juleka.

"You need to calm down," she said softly, "please."

Nathanael took a deep breath and untensed, "I'm fine,' he mumbled, "let me go Adrien."

"Is it over?!" Adrien asked, he looked back and saw his eyes were screwed shut.

Nathanael rolled his eyes, "yeah, it's over." he muttered. Making Adrien open his eyes.

"Good." Adrien said, letting him go. "Thought you were about to drag me in."

Nathanael shook his head and looked over to the upperclassman, who was being restrained by several other students, his lip was busted, his nose was broken, he had three or four gashes from Nathanael's knuckles. He felt rage start to rise once more. He forced himself to look away from the boy and back to Juleka, who was still worriedly checking over him, making his rage slowly go away.

"What the hell happened here!?" Mme. Bustier shouted angrily, coming out of one of the hallways, Mylene right behind her, "Nathanael? What happened here?"

'Nothing." he said, "tripped down some stairs."

She stared at him for a bit, then turned her glare over to the other boy, "M. Buffet, what happened?"

"He fell down some stairs." he grumbled.

"And what about what happened to you?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"I fell too."

She shook her head, "get him to the nurses office." she said to his friends, who quickly started to drag him away.

"Juleka, can you help Nathanael clean up? I'll get the nurse to go by and help him as soon as she's done with M. Buffet."

"Yes ma'am." she said, taking Nathanaels hand, squeezing it tightly, 'Come on." she mumbled.

"The rest of you back to class!" she shouted to all the students that had gathered, "now."

Everyone slowly started filing away, not paying attention to the magic user watching everything unfold with a smile on her lips, and a wispy line of magic sprouting from the tip of her finger.

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Nathanael sat quietly on the bench beside the lockers as Juleka ran a wet rag over his mouth, "Jules i can get it-" he started.

"Shut up." she said sternly. Making him clamp his mouth shut, wincing when she pushed the rag against his nose, "Sorry…" She mumbled.

"It's alright," he said with a chuckle, "It's just sore."

"How is it that you got through a brutal fight with nothing but scraped knuckles and a broken nose?"

"I don't think it's broken."

She rolled her eyes, "you know what i mean." she muttered, turning away from him.

Nathanael looked down, then slowly stood and walked up behind her, "I'm sorry," he mumbled, putting his arms around her, "i didn't mean to lose it like that but...the way he was talking about Max...what he did to Kim...what he said about you…"

She sighed and leaned back against him,"I know," she said quietly, "that doesn't mean you get free reign to start fights."

"I know," he said, resting his chin in the crook of her neck, "i just...i lost control…It won't happen again."

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"I…"

"You've been changing Nath," she said, "you've been different, you barely paint anymore, most of your time is spent in that gym. And…" she shook her head, and pulled away from him "something's going on that you're not telling me, and i don't like what it's doing to you, and if this is how you're going to be acting…' she trailed off.

Nathanael stepped forward and took her hand, making her turn back around, "I know...things have just been...stressful. What with mom not letting me help pay for rent and what happened to Alix and Max…" he shook his head, "Art doesn't help me relieve stress like it used to and today...it just...it finally got to me." he looked into her eyes, "I...i never meant to scare or worry you, i'm sorry."

She looked down, "don't do that again." she mumbled.

"I promise i won't." he said, wrapping his arms around her again and giving her a soft kiss on her forehead, Juleka looked up at him and hesitantly kissed him on the corner of his lips, making him smile.

"Three weeks and i finally get a kiss." he chuckled, making her blush.

"Things have been busy." she said quietly.

"Don't I know it." he said, swooping down to catch her lips in a soft, tender kiss; a kiss Juleka eagerly returned, and for a few precious moments the world was at peace.

Then the ground below shook violently as explosions filled the air, on instinct, Nathanael wrapped his arms around Juleka and tdove away from the windows as they exploded in a shower of glass shards and debris from outside.

"It's always something." Nathanael muttered as he got back up, Juleka still in his arms. He let go of her and looked towards the window, eyes widening as blue skinned giants started crawling through the windows, each one about seven feet tall, maybe taller, beady red eyes glaring every which way as they searched the room. One of them set their sights on the young couple and started to growl.

"Juleka move!" Nathanael shouted, hoisting her up and almost dragging her out of the way as the giant waved it's arm, conjuring icicles as the appendage moved through the air and sending them flying into the wall behind Nathanael.

"Holy-" Nathanael yelped as one nicked his arm, he grabbed one of the benches and threw it at the now advancing giants, halting their advance for a few seconds as he and Juleka ran out the locker room and into what could only be described as a battlefield.

More giants were in the main hub of the school, throwing spikes of ice indiscriminately around as students ran back and forth in terror, several were attempting to fight back, chief among them being Ivan and Kim, who was slightly unsteady on his feet, but was belting his fists out so fast they were almost a blur, but the two were slowly getting backed up into a corner.

"Juleka-" Nathanael started.

"Go help Ivan and Kim," Juleka said, cutting him off, "I'm going to go find Rose and the others, we'll meet up in front of the school, got it?"

Nathanael blinked, then smiled, giving her a quick kiss, "whatever you say." he said, turning back around to head towards Kim and Ivan, only to be stopped by Juleka's hand.

"Nathanael…" she started, looking at him with worry in her eyes, "be careful."

He gave her a small smile "always am." he said as he took off once more.

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Adrien couldn't believe what he was seeing, it was like someone had started a full scale war in and around the school, police and RAID units were fighting the weird giants, who were easily dodging bullets and stun rounds and keeping the police at bay while inside they were causing all out mayhem, destroying classrooms and walkways and slamming students out of their way as they continued on their rampage, many of whom were simply trying to run away…

...except for a certain blogger who was attempting to get the whole thing on film.

"Watch out!" adrien shouted, tackling her to the ground as an icicle slammed into the wall behind them, pinning her phone against the wall.

"I still have payments on that!" Alya said angrily.

"That's what you're worried about?" Adrien snapped, "that damn icicle almost took your head off!"

"No it wouldn't have," she said dismissively, "these guy's aren't trying to kill, only maim."

"How is that any better!?"

"You guys!" Nino shouted, running over, helping them both up, "we need to get out of here, these things are starting to get violent."

As if to accentuate his point Ivan flew past them and crashed into the wall, groaning in pain as a couple of bricks fell down and landed on his chest.

Both nino and Adrien helped the behemoth up as Kim limped over, his arm gushing blood from a gash on his shoulder.

"Okay, maybe we do need to get out of here." Alya said worriedly as she helped Kim towards the exit, "where's marinette?"

Nino stopped what he was doing and looked at her, 'I thought she was with you."

"No she wasn't with me!" Alya said in a panicky voice, "we have to go back-"

"I'll go! You guy's head out!" Adrien said quickly, taking off up the icicle covered stairs

"Adrien! ADRIEN! YOU GET BACK HERE YOU STUPID BLONDE BA-" Alya's screaming was cut off as Adrien darted into their classroom, looking around, Marinette was nowhere to be seen, and it seemed he was alone, "Plagg, lets-" he stopped as Plagg darted out.

"Change kid! Hurry up and do it! Change! Change! Change!" Plagg exclaimed fervently, shaking in fury and anxiousness.

"Whoa, wait a second, what's wrong? It's just another akuma."

"You stupid boy!" Plagg spat, "Those things are not akuma! They're Jotuns! ice-Giants! Bloodthirsty, war-mongering Ice-Giants! The longer they're out there, the more stirred up they get until they can't control themselves and shoot off to fight! So we need to transform, and give them something to fight before they start slaughtering civilians." Plagg took a deep breath and looked at Adrien, "this isn't the usual fight," he said, "there's a very likely chance you could die, and the miraculous cure doesn't bring the dead back."

Adrien felt a cold chill go down his spine, but he gave a cocky grin and said, "come on, we're superheroes, we don't die," he then turned around quickly, "Plagg! Claws out!"

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Nathanael slid into a broom closet, breathing heavily as several spikes of ice hit the door, slamming it shut, "looks like we need to transform Thor." he said, slowly standing up.

"Be careful boy." Thor muttered, flying out of Nathanael's pocket, "these aren't akuma, they're warriors from Jotunheim."

"What?"

"They're Jotuns, and if they're here…" he trailed off, before shaking his head, "just transform, and don't hold back, they'll try and kill you should you try."

Nathanael felt a chill go down his spine, "are you saying...that i have to kill them?"

"If you want to see your girlfriend at the end of this, yes."

Nathanael looked down, then up, "Mjolnir, to me!"

Lightning struck and Nathanael smiled at the now familiar feeling of magic infusing into his body, with a roar he exploded out of the closet, lightning arcing from his body as he slammed Mjolnir into a charging Jotun and sending him flying.

"He's here!" one Jotun snarled, "engage him! Don't let him escape!"

"Come on!" Thor shouted back, spinning his hammer as the majority of the Jotuns charged.

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Lila smiled cruelly as she watched Thor fight, "so...little Nathanael is the great Thor." she mused, slowly changing into her Enchantress guise, she summoned a clear orb, "Gabriel." She whispered to it, making it shimmer and warp until she was looking at the scowling face of Gabriel Agreste, "one of our targets has revealed himself." Lila said, "we need an Akuma, and I have a victim lined up for you in the infirmary.'

"Is his anger his own?" Gabriel asked.

"What does it matter?" she snapped.

"My akuma only take possession of those whose anger is their own, if it is fabricated by magic then the akuma won't take hold."

Lila scowled, "Fine." she muttered, "i'll do this without your help." she ended the call and looked down to where Thor was fighting, now joined by Chat Noir. she started to gather magic in her hands, only to stop when she saw a familiar face darting into one of the now empty classrooms, "oh? And what are you doing Marinette?"

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"Tikki, slow down." Marinette urged as the small Kwami went on and on about "Jotuns" and "evil magic" "Tikki i can barely keep up with what your saying."

"Those things out there are Jotuns! Ice Giants!" Tikki said hurriedly, "blood thirsty, monstrous beings who have great power over Ice! We need to-" she stopped as the door burst open and enchantress strode in.

"Well, well, well, isn't this a treat." she said, looking at Marinette with a smile, "Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the class president, the bumbling, stumbling idiot of a girl who's head over heels for our resident model, is the great and powerful Ladybug."

"Tikki Spots-" she stopped as a knife was pressed to her neck, Tikki let a struggled cry out as a hand closed around her, trapping her.

"We're having a pleasant conversation," she said with a smile, "why ruin it with fighting?"

"Who are you?" Marinette demanded to know.

"Just because your secret is out doesn't mean mine will be so easily found out." she said haughtily, slowly walking around Marinette, her knife still pointed at her. "So how did you gain such a powerful little trinket?"

Marinette said nothing, just stared ahead as she tried to figure out a way to get away from Enchantress.

"Come now Marinette, It's not a fun conversation if you don't contribute." Enchantress asked, pressing the knife forward a bit, not enough to draw blood, but enough to get her attention.

"How does anyone come by a magical artifact?" Marinette muttered vaguely.

Enchantress laughed softly, "so a benefactor handed it over? And i'm guessing you know who this benefactor is?"

"You tell me yours and i'll tell you mine." she retorted.

"Hmmm...I don't think so." she sang, "but perhaps you'd like to meet him? I'm sure he'd be very interested to meet you."

Marinette felt a chill go down her spine at those words, "I'm afraid I'd have to decline, i don't like to associate myself with scum."

'Oh come now Marinette," she said, suddenly getting close to the other girl, "you don't have a choice."

"INCOMING!"

With an explosion, Thor tore through the wall, slamming his hammer into Enchantress and sending her flying out the window, "cowardly bitch." he growled, looking at Marinette, "you alright?" his eyes widened when he saw tikki flying around her head, "by the gods-ladybug…"

"She knows my identity." Marinette said quickly.

"Then transform and get ready for a fight," he said, walking towards the broken window, "she won't stay away long, and those Jotuns are still wreaking havoc out there."

Marinette nodded "Tikki! Spots on!"

She transformed just as Enchantress shot through the window, her sights set on Thor, at least until Ladybug kicked her in the side and sent her crashing into the wall.

"Go help Chat!" Ladybug told Thor, swinging her yoyo as she glared at Enchantress, "this bitch is mine."

Thor grinned, "give her hell." he said as he dove back out into the main courtyard, slamming his hammer into the ground and sending jotuns flying, arcs of electricity shooting off their bodies.

"Now where were we?" Ladybug asked as Enchantress summoned two knives.

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Chat ducked under the blade of a very pissed off Jotun, deflecting it's attacks as he retreated.

"I will mount your head on a pike!" the giant rumbled.

"I don't think you will." chat said, getting into a defensive stance.

"And what makes you say that? Puny human?"

A hammer flew out from behind Chat and slammed into the Jotuns' face, making it crumple to the ground.

"Just a feeling." Chat said, standing up straight as Thor strode forward, summoning his hammer back, 'Nice fighting dude." chat said with a grin.

"It's not over yet." thor warned, "Ladybug has engaged Enchantress."

"What!? Where are they?"

As if on cue, one of the classrooms exploded and Ladybug and Enchantress flew out, wrestling in mid-air as they crashed into another room.

"There, roundabout." Thor said, gesturing to where the two had crashed.

"Oooh, Chat-fight." Chat said, "lets go watch."

The two jumped onto the second landing, running into the classroom in time to see Ladybug punch Enchantress in the chin and throwing her through a window and jumping after her, "Lucky Charm!" she shouted, a blanket appearing in her hand. "Uh…" she started, yelping as she dodged out of Enchantress's way as the witch attacked, swinging razor sharp blades at the spot where Ladybug had been.

"You expect to defeat me with a blanket!" Enchantress taunted, pressing her attack as Ladybug dodged and weaved around her, attempts at using her yoyo inefficient due to the close quarters, so she hooked her yoyo back on her belt and backflipped away from the witch. Grabbing the blanket with both hands, a smile ocming to her face as she twisted it and got a crude rope, Enchantress attacked once more and Ladybug stepped into it, barely avoiding the sharp blade as she wrapped the blanket around her arm, tightening it around her forearm. She quickly started manipulating the arm into a submissive hold behind the other girls back, grabbing her other arm and wrapping it too in the blanket.

"Let me go!" Enchantress shrieked, "let me go now!"

"In your dreams." Ladybug retorted forcing her to her knee's as thor and Chat ran up to her.

"Impressive M'lady." Chat said, throwing his arm over her shoulder as Ladybug stood up.

"Where's her amulet?" Thor questioned, glaring at Enchantress as he walked around her.

"Don't know," Ladybug muttered, lazily spinning her yoyo, "but i'm sure we can find out."

"You...you bitch…" Enchantress growled out, "you...you think you've won?"

"Seems like it." Ladybug retorted, "once we find your miraculous we can turn you over to the police and then-"

"Then what?" she spat looking up and glaring at her, "I know your secret," she looked at Thor, "both of your secrets, and I'll tell everyone, you'll never get a moment's rest!"

Ladybug paled as Chat looked at her, "what's she talking about."

"Aww, he doesn't know? So much for being a team"

Thor hefted his hammer, "another word from you witch and I'll cave your skull in." he growled.

"You don't have the guts Nathanael." she taunted, making thor freeze.

"How…"

"Got you," she muttered as magic suddenly sprouted out of her hands, making the blanket flutter away as a powerful blast of magic burst from Enchantress, sending the three heroes flying back, Chat pulled Ladybug into his chest as they both crashed into the street while Thor slammed into a police cruiser, crumpling it under his dead weight.

"Maybe next time you'll have better luck!" Enchantress sneered as she disappeared in a flash of green light.

"Fuckin' bitch…" Thor groaned as he pulled himself from the wreckage, rolling his shoulders as he looked to Ladybug and Chat, "you two alright?"

"Never better." Chat noir groaned, looking down at ladybug, who was out cold, "Ladybug's out."

"I see that," Thor said, hoisting the girl off Chat and gently laying her in the grass as she started to stir. looking to the spot where Enchantress had disappeared, "she knows who I am...and she knows who Ladybug is…"

"She could've been lying about Ladybug." Chat said uneasily.

"No, she saw her…" Thor muttered, "she now knows two of us...Chat, you'll have to be more careful when we next have to change, we don't need her finding out who you are."

"Ow...my head…" Ladybug mumbled, slowly sitting up, "what did she hit us with."

"Magic." Thor said, looking at her, "you alright?"

"Fine." she said, slowly getting up, stumbling a bit as Chat quickly supported her, "she knows who we are Thor…"

Thor nodded, "so what are we going to do about it?"

"We're going to have to try and find out who she is before she can do anything with the information...and keep chat's identity a secret while we do it."

"But wouldn't it be better if you know who I am?" Chat asked.

"No, it's too risky." she said, shaking her head, "she already knows who I am, and now she know's thor-"

"And she'll probably figure out Chat's Identity quickly." Thor cut in, making her look at him in surprise.

"How?"

"We've known each others identities since the Eiffel tower," Thor said, making Ladybug look at Chat Sharply. "It was me who suggested not to tell you." Thor quickly added before she could start yelling, "we knew each others identities, and there was no real reason to tell you...now there is…"

She sighed, "lets meet up tonight." she muttered, "we'll get all the secrets out in the open and go from there." she picked up the blanket and performed the Miraculous cure, soon the damage was fixed, leaving only the injured to be rounded up and taken to the hospital.

Thor nodded, "both of you stay safe." he said before throwing his hammer and taking off into the air.

"M'lady," chat started as she started walking away.

"Not now Chat."

"But m'lady-"

"Not. now." she said sternly before swinging away. Leaving Chat alone, ears pinned to his head.

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After shrugging off the EMS and making Juleka was alright, Nathanael made his way to the hospital to visit his friends, school had been canceled for the rest of the day, seeing as how so many had been injured in the attack. So now Nathanael found himself sitting in the hospital with Juleka, both waiting to hear about the remainder of their friends. So far they learned that Ivan had a concussion, Mylene had two or three lacerations on her arms, and ALya had a sprained wrist and ankle, Rose and Nino had been able to get away relatively unhurt, only a couple of bruises each. Now they were waiting to hear about Kim, who not only suffered several stab wounds from the Jotuns attack, but also a concussion from his disagreement with Buffet. While they knew tihs, the doctors kept saying that there was possibly more to his injuries, but wouldn't tell them exactly what it was. So Nathanael and Juleka stayed, huddled together on the cushioned chairs of the hospital. Resting quietly against each other.

"Kurtzberg…"

The croaky voice made Nathanael look up, his arms tensing slightly as he saw the upperclassmen he fought now standing in front of him, injuries from the fight as well as the subsequent attack bandaged and cleaned.

"Here for another round?" nathanael asked coldly.

"Nath." Juleka chastised, making Nathanael relax a bit.

"No," he said, scratching his jaw, "I...came to apologize…"

"What?" Nathanael asked in surprise.

"I...I don't know what came over me during all that…" he said awkwardly, "one second me and Kim were having a calm conversation about him stepping back from boxing for a bit, and next thing I know i'm fighting you...i don't even remember it all that much...my buddy told me what happened and...well i feel like shit for having said what I did...so...yeah, sorry bro."

Nathanael narrowed his eyes, then let out a sigh, holding a hand out, "it's all good," he said simply, "but you may want to apologize to kim too, you really did a number on him."

"Yeah i know, soon as they let me back there I plan on telling him." he said, shaking Nathanaels hand. "So yeah...you two have a good afternoon." with that he walked away, hands in his pockets.

"That was weird.' Nathanael muttered.

"People apologize all the time Nath," Juleka said, "Not like it's hard to believe."

"No, i mean how can he barely remember any of that...it was a brutal fight…"

Juleka shrugged, "adrenaline?"

"Maybe…"

The door that lead deeper into the hospital opened, revealing most of their friends limping out, Nathanael's mother right behind them.

"Hey guys," Nathanael greeted as he stood up, wincing as the bruises he had collected for the day.

"Sup bro." Ivan slurred out, slightly unsteady on his feet. "You good?"

"I'm fine Ivan," Nathanael said, patting his friends shoulder, "any word on Kim?"

"He's sleeping now," Ava piped up, giving her son a tired smile, "he'll be right as rain by tomorrow," she then turned her attention to the others, "all of you be careful, i'd rather not see you back in here because you decided to do something to reopen or worsen your wounds." she seemed to glare at Alya particularly, making her tense.

"It was only one time." Alya reasoned, "it wasn't even that bad."

"Sixteen stitches that your tore back open because you wanted to run after an Akuma is the definition of bad." she deadpanned, "so no stupid stunts."

"Yes Ms. Kurtzberg." Alya droned out.

"We'll keep her in check," Nino said, throwing his arm around his girlfriend, who playfully shoved him off.

"That's all i ask." she said, turning to her son, "are you alright?"

"I'm fine mom," he said, giving her his best smile, "just sore and tired."

"You and me both."she muttered, going over to the nurses station to sit down, almost as soon as she did an alarm started going off, making all the teens tense up.

"Is it an akuma?" Rose asked anxiously, looking aorund.

"No," Ava said, checking her monitors, her eyes widening, "it's Max!"

Instantly she was running down the hall, Nino, Nathanael and Juleka right behind her, the others hobbling after them.

The first four burst into Max's room, finding the boy wide awake and flailing about in a panic.

"Restrain him, before he hurts himself!" Ava said quickly, soon Nathanael and Nino were wrestling the boy down to the bed.

"Who...where...what…" Max babbled, his eyes darting about as he tried to see. "No...tower...guys...no!"

"Max! Max, buddy you need to calm down." Nathanael said as soothingly as he could, "Juleka, can you find his glasses?"

"On it." she said, jogging out of the room as the others got there.

"Come on Maxy, calm down, you're safe, you're alright." Nino said calmly as the boy started to relax, Juleka came back in and put his glasses on for him, "there ya go, all better right bro?"

Max nodded, "what happened?" he mumbled.

"You were in an accident," Nathanael said, putting his hand on the smaller boys shoulder, "do you not remember anything?"

"I...the Eiffel tower...fell, and...i was running with Alix and…" he shook his head, wincing at the pain it caused, "that's all i remember.'

"Well, welcome back to the land of the living bro!" Nino said with wide grin.

"Yeah, welcome back." Nathanael said, making the boy smile.

"Thanks...hey...where's Kim?"


End file.
